• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.508-513
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• 1998

The hepatoprotective effect of DA-9601, a quality-controlled extract of artemisisa asiatica, on liver damage induced by acetaminophen (APAP) and carbon tetrachloride ($CCI_{4}$) was investigated by means of serum-biochemical, hepatic-biochemical, and histopathological examinations. Doses of Da-9601 (10, 30, or 100 mg/kg) were administered intragastrically to each rat on three consecutive days i.e. 48 h, 24 h and 2 h before a single administration of APAP (640 mg/kg, i.p.) or $CCI_{4}$ (2 ml/kg, p.o.). Four h and 24 h after hepatotoxin treatment, the animals were sacrificed for evaluation of liver damage. Pretreatment of Da-9601 reduced the elevation of serum ALT, AST. LDH and histopathological changes such as centrilobular necrosis, vacuolar degeneration and inflammatory cell infiltration dose-dependently. Da-9601 also prevented APAP- and $CCI_{4}$-induced hepatic glutathione (GSH) depletion and $CCI_{4}$-induced increase of hepatic malondialdehyde (MDA), a parameter of lipid peroxidation, in a chemically induced liver injury by complex mechanisms which involve prevention of lipid peroxidation and preservation of hepatic GSH.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.351-357
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• 2003

Five kinds of allylthiopyridazine derivatives were synthesized and their chemoprotective activities examined in rats exposed to aflatoxin $B_1$-toxicant. Rats were pretreated with five allylthiopyridazine derivatives at daily oral doses of 50 mg/kg for 10 consecutive days, and during this period with one or three repeated doses of the potent hepatotoxin, aflatoxin $B_1$. The hepatoprotective effects of the allylthiopyridazine derivatives against aflatoxin $B_1$ (1 mg/kg, three times at intervals of 3 days, i.p., or at 3 mg/kg, once at final days, i.p.) administration were showed the significantly normal as compared with control in body and liver weights. Aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase levels were markedly elevated after aflatoxin $B_1$ administration, and pretreatment with allylthiopyridazine derivatives, before aflatoxin $B_1$ administration, resulted in decreased levels of these enzymes. In addition, the allylthiopyridazine derivatives, K6 (3-methoxy-), K8 (3-chloro-), K16 (3-ethoxy-) and K17 (3-n-propoxy), induced elevated hepatic GSH levels. Four kinds of allylthiopyridazine derivatives investigated were effective against aflatoxin $B_1$ -induced hepatotoxicity.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.158-164
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• 2013

A microcystin-degrading bacterium was isolated from Daechung reservoir, Korea. The isolated bacterium was identified as Microbacterium sp. by 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis, and designated as Microbacterium sp. MA21. This strain degraded cyanobacterial hepatotoxin, microcystin-LR, over 80% when incubated at $30^{\circ}C$ for 12 hr in R2A medium. Two unknown metabolites of microcystin were also identified during the degradation process. Although only Sphinogomonas and Actinobacteria have been known to degrade microcystin previously, this is the first report that Microbacterium sp. MA21 could degrade microcystin.

• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
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• v.38 no.3 s.150
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• pp.245-253
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• 2007

Artemisia princeps PAMPANINI has been used in traditional medicine of the treatment of inflammatory, liver dysfunction and order disorder in the far east countries including Korea. The present study was carried out to investigate the hepatoprotective effects of ethanol extract of Artemisia princeps (AP) and its fermented agents (AP-F) by lactic acid bacteria derived from human intestinal bacteria on liver injured rat induced by $CCl_4$ and d-galactosamine. Hepatoprotective activity was monitored by estimating serum ALT, AST, ALP, LDH, superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione redeuctase (GR) and glutathione peroxidase (Gpx) activities in the liver injured by hepatotoxin. Pretreating rats with AP or AP-F at the same dosage regimen significantly suppressed the acute elevation of serum transaminase, ALP, LDH and GR activities, and significantly increased the lowering of blood SOD and GR activites induced by hepatoxin. Based on these findings, it is presumed that AP and APF may have the hepatoprotective effect on $CCl_4$ and d-galactosamine-induced hepatotoxicity rat.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.204-210
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• 2014

The brown alga Saccharina japonica is consumed as a foodstuff in many countries. Carbon tetrachloride ($CCl_4$) is a potent hepatotoxin that is used to assess hepatotoxicity in animal models. This study assessed the protective effect of S. japonica extract (SJE) on $CCl_4$-induced acute liver injury in rats. Experimental rats were divided into the following three groups: control, $CCl_4$, and $CCl_4$+SJE; the latter two groups were given 150 or 300 mg SJE/kg orally for 10 days. Three hours after the final treatment, all rats-except for those in the control group-were administered intraperitoneal injections of $CCl_4$. One day later, blood and liver samples were collected for evaluation biomarker of levels. Aspartate transaminase (APT; GPT) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT; GOT) levels were markedly lower in the $CCl_4$+SJE group than the $CCl_4$ group. The hepatic superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity of the $CCl_4$+SJE group was significantly lower than that of the $CCl_4$ group. In comparison, glutathione S-transferase (GSH) and catalase (CAT) levels were significantly higher in the $CCl_4$+SJE group. Western blotting revealed that SJE attenuated the $CCl_4$-induced EGFR and MAPK activity in the liver. Thus, we conclude that SJE protects against $CCl_4$-induced hepatotoxicity.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.705-711
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• 2007

Green quantum-dot nanocrystal (QD525) with anti-microcystin monoclonal antibody was applied for detection of microcystin, a monocyclic peptide hepatotoxin, extracted from the culture of Microcystis aeruginosa. The presence of microcystin in the cell lysate was verified by HPLC analysis with UV absorbance at 238 nm. Microcystis cell extract exhibited fluorescence emission spectra, which peak was around 460 nm because of their complex organic substances. When a spherical QD525 antibody conjugates (10~20 nm in diameter) were bound to the microcystins in the Microcystis cell lysate, the fluorescence intensity of the primary peak at 525 nm diminished while the secondary emission peak at 460 nm slightly increased intensities. It is due to energy transfer from the primary (major) to the secondary (minor) peak, resulting from physical deformation of QD525 and different environmental factors. On the other hand, other cell extracts did not show any fluorescence emission change. This study is very available for detecting and monitoring the microcystin because it is one step assay without washing step and portable spectrophotometer makes on-site measurement possible. For health risk assessment of the microcystin, the reliable and rapid system to detect and quantify microcystin is seriously required.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.29-36
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• 2000

To investigate the effect of injection frequency of bromobenzene on the liver damage, bromobenzene (400 mg/kg, i.p.) was given daily to rats for six days. All experimental animals were sacrificed at 24 hours after the last injection. Morphological changes of the liver were observed under a light microscopic examination. Functional changes of the liver were evaluated by the measurement of alanine aminotransferase activity. To clarify the cause of discrepancy in liver damage, hepatic glutathione (GSH) content, glutathione S-transferase (GST) and aniline hydroxylase (AH) activities were determined. In the experiments of daily bromobenzene treatments, the sacrificed animals at six day (6 time-injected animals) showed slighter liver damage than those sacrificed at 3 day (3 time-injected ones), based on the liver morphological or functional findings; the decreasing ratio of GSH content and increasing ratio of liver GST and AH activities in the 6 time-injected group were higher than those in the 3 time-injected one.

• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
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• v.37 no.1 s.144
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• pp.28-32
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• 2006

Hepatoprotective effects of an aqueous extract prepared from the aerial part of Agrimonia eupatoria L., a species of agrimmony, were investigated in experimental liver-damaged models. To investigate hepatoprotective effects, the agrimmony extract were fed orally to experimental animals. Thereafter a single dose of hepatotoxin, carbon tetrachloride $(CCl_4)$ or D-galac-tosamine was orally administrated. Chronic liver damage was induced by oral administration of $CCl_4$ for 2 weeks (1 time/day). Hepatoprotective effects were monitored by estimating serum AST and ALT levels. The results showed that the agrimmony extract significantly reduced AST and ALT levels compared with those of control group in both acute and chronic animal models. It was concluded that the agrimmony extract have hepatoprotective effects against rat liver injury induced by $CCl_4$ or D-galactosamine.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.663-668
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• 2011

Galgeun-tang (GGT) has been a great source for treating cold diseases in the folk medicine recipe. Carbon tetrachloride ($CCl_4$) is one type of hepatotoxin that can eventually cause liver injury. During the experiment, we first studied the protective effects of GGT against $CC_4$-induced hepatotoxicity. GGT was pretreated for 3 h, and 1% $CCl_4$ was added to mouse primary liver cells. After 4 h, ROS generation and expression of antioxidant enzymes (catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx)) were analyzed by FACS and real time PCR. Also, the activities of ALT and LDH were measured using cultured medium. The hepatic levels of TNF-alpha and iNOS, which are related to inflammation and stress response gene, HSP72 and HO-1 were analyzed by PCR or real time PCR. Liver tissues were analyzed by HE stain. From the observation, we discovered that GGT treatment protects $CCl_4$-induced hepatotoxicity, and that GGT pretreatment decreases ROS generation, TNF-alpha and iNOS expression. However, gene expression of CAT, SOD, GPx, HSP72 and HO-1 were increased by GGT. These results lead to the conclusion that GGT has protective effects against $CCl_4$-induced hepatotoxicity.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.46 no.3
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• pp.296-302
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• 2010

Microcystis (Cyanobacteria, Chroococcales) is one of the green tide-causing organisms in freshwaters, and some species produce microcystin that is hepatotoxin. In the aspects of freshwater quality controls and health concerns, therefore it is necessary to manage the harmful organisms. In the present study, RNA polymerase beta subunit (rpoB) gene sequences of Microcystis were determined and characterized in order to use a potential marker for the molecular detections of the species. Microcystis rpoB showed high divergences of DNA similarity and genetic distances when compared with those of 16S rRNA, and the molecular differences were statistically significant (Student t-test, p<0.05). Parsimony analyses showed the rpoB gene evolves more than 2-fold faster than 16S rRNA. In addition, phylogeny of the rpoB gene separated each M. aeruginosa strain more clearly compared with a 16S rRNA tree. This study found that the order Chroococcales, including Microcystis, has approximately two rRNA operons and single copy of the rpoB gene in their chromosomes. These results suggest that the rpoB gene is a useful marker for the molecular phylogenetics and the detection of Microcystis.