• Animal Bioscience
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• v.35 no.7
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• pp.989-998
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• 2022

Objective: This study investigated the effects of intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) during late pregnancy on the cell growth, proliferation, and differentiation in ovine fetal thymuses. Methods: Eighteen time-mated Mongolian ewes with singleton fetuses were allocated to three groups at d 90 of pregnancy: restricted group 1 (RG1, 0.18 MJ ME/body weight [BW]^0.75/d, n = 6), restricted group 2 (RG2, 0.33 MJ ME/BW^0.75/d, n = 6) and control group (CG, ad libitum, 0.67 MJ ME/BW^0.75/d, n = 6). Fetuses were recovered at slaughter on d 140. Results: The G0/G1 phase cell number in fetal thymus of the RG1 group was increased but the proliferation index and the expression of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) were reduced compared with the CG group (p<0.05). Fetuses in the RG1 group exhibited decreased growth hormone receptor (GHR), insulin-like growth factor 2 receptor (IGF-2R), and their mRNA expressions (p<0.05). For the RG2 fetuses, there were no differences in the proliferation index and PCNA expression (p>0.05), but growth hormone (GH) and the mRNA expression of GHR were lower than those of the CG group (p<0.05). The thymic mRNA expressions of cyclin-dependent protein kinases (CDKs including CDK1, CDK2, and CDK4), CCNE, E2-factors (E2F1, E2F2, and E2F5) were reduced in the RG1 and RG2 groups (p<0.05), and decreased mRNA expressions of E2F4, CCNA, CCNB, and CCND were occurred in the RG1 fetuses (p<0.05). The decreased E-cadherin (E-cad) as a marker for epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) was found in the RG1 and RG2 groups (p<0.05), but the OB-cadherin which is a marker for activated fibroblasts was increased in fetal thymus of the RG1 group (p<0.05). Conclusion: These results indicate that weakened GH/IGF signaling system repressed the cell cycle progression in G0/G1 phase in IUGR fetal thymus, but the switch from reduced E-cad to increased OB-cadherin suggests that transdifferentiation process of EMT associated with fibrogenesis was strengthened. The impaired cell growth, retarded proliferation and modified differentiation were responsible for impaired maturation of IUGR fetal thymus.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.750-756
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• 2010

Two trials were conducted to study the effects of two Chinese herbal polysaccharides, Astragalus polysaccharides (APS) and Achyranthes bidentata polysaccharides (ABPS), and one Chinese herbal saponin, Acantbepanax senticosus saponin (ASS), on the immunity and growth performance of weaned pigs. Experiment 1 was a 14-day growth assay, in which 32 weaned pigs were randomly allocated to one of four dietary treatments: i) 0.05% talcum powder control; ii) 0.05% APS; iii) 0.05% mixture of APS and ASS in a 1:1 ratio by weight; and iv) 0.05% mixture of APS, ASS, and ABPS in a ratio of 1:1:1 by weight. Blood samples were collected on day 14 to determine plasma parameters. Feed intake, body weight gain, and feed efficiency were also determined. Experiment 2 was a 21-day immunity assay, in which 16 weaned pigs were randomly allotted to one of two dietary treatments: i) 0.05% talcum powder control; and ii) 0.05% mixture of APS and ASS in a 1:1 ratio by weight. On day 21, pigs were challenged with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and 3 h later blood samples were collected and analyzed for lymphocyte proliferation as well as interleukin 6 (IL-6), insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1), growth hormone (GH), and cortisol levels. In Experiment 1, feeding Chinese herbal polysaccharides and saponin increased growth performance of the pigs. The effects of the mixture of APS and ASS were especially notable, as there was a significant improvement in growth performance compared with the control (p<0.05). The plasma concentration of immunoglobulin G (IgG), nitric oxide (NO), and nitric oxide synthase (NOS) were increased in all treatments groups, with the mixture of APS and ASS increasing the level of IgG and NOS significantly (p<0.05), compared with the control. There was no difference in the NO level between the control and treatment groups (p>0.05). In Experiment 2, Chinese herbal polysaccharides and saponin showed immunostimulating effects. The level of cortisol, GH, and IGF-I were significantly increased (p>0.05), and the level of IL-6 showed a significant decrease (p<0.05) in the APS and ASS treatment after the LPS challenge. The mixture of APS and ASS could stimulate the blood lymphocyte proliferation significantly whether the LPS was injected or not (p<0.05). These results show that Chinese herbal extracts can improve growth performance and stimulate immunity of weaned pigs. A mixture of APS and ASS, compared with APS alone, could be a new kind of immunostimulant for weaned pigs, which could result in greater positive effects on their growth performance and immunity.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.28 no.8
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• pp.931-937
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• 2018

Triptolide is a compound found in Tripterygium wilfordii and reported to have an anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant activities. A previous study shows that the dietary supplementation with triptolide increases resistance to environmental stressors, including oxidative stress, heat shock, and ultraviolet irradiation, and extends lifespan in C. elegans. Here, we investigated the underlying mechanisms involved in the lifespan-extending effect of triptolide. The effect of triptolide on age-related diseases, such as diabetes mellitus and Alzheimer's disease, was also examined using animal disease models. The longevity phenotype conferred by triptolide was not observed in the eat-2 mutant, a well-known genetic model of dietary restriction, while there was an additional lifespan extension with triptolide in age-1 and clk-1 mutants. The long lifespan of age-1 mutant is resulted from a reduced insulin/IGF-1-like signaling and the clk-1 mutant lives longer than wild-type due to dysfunction of mitochondrial electron transport chain reaction. The effect of dietary restriction using bacterial dilution on lifespan also overlapped with that of triptolide. The toxicity of high glucose diet or transgenic human amyloid beta gene was significantly suppressed by the supplementation with triptolide. These findings suggest that triptolide can mimic the effect of dietary restriction on lifespan and onset of age-related diseases. We conclude that triptolide can be a strong candidate for the development of dietary restriction mimetics.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.573-582
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• 2005

This study was conducted to investigate effects of the brown seaweed waste(BSW) supplementation on milk production and related endocrine response in serum in Holstein dairy cows. A total of 14 Holstein dairy cows(initial mean live weight 625kg, average lactation days 225, Reproduction 2.4) were randomly allocated into control(basal diet) and treatment groups (4% BSW/basal diet) with 7 replications for 90 days. Dry matter intake was not affected by brown seaweed waste supplementation, but daily milk yield(kg) at the last experiment significantly increased (6.25kg) in treatment group compared with control group(p<0.05) at the last experiment. The plasma insulin-like growth factor(IGF)-1, triiodothyronine($T_3$) and thyroxine($T_4$) levels were significantly increased in treatment group compared with control group(p<0.05), although the concentration of plasma growth hormone(GH) was not significantly different. Milk composition was not significantly different between groups. The somatic cell count(SCC) in milk were significantly reduced in treatment group compared with control group(p<0.05), but antibodies(total IgG, G1, G2) were not significantly different between groups. Therefore we strongly believe that the increased milk yield is related to metabolic hormones as IGF-1, $T_3$ and $T_4$ and the mechanism of reducing SCC in milk must do more study related nonspecific immunsystem in the future.

• Maxillofacial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.31-37
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• 2013

Purpose: Maxilla and mandible have different patterns of cortical and trabecular bone and different bone mineral densities, even though both are components of the jaw bone. However, cellular differences between maxilla- and mandible derived osteoblasts (OBs) have rarely been studied. We hypothesize that maxilla- and mandible-derived OBs show different responses to $17{\beta}$-estradiol (E2), which is one of the critical factors for bone formation. This study compares skeletal site-specific cell responses between maxilla- and mandible-derived human OBs to E2. Methods: Maxilla- and mandible-derived OBs derived from an identical donor were separately isolated from a total of five normal healthy subjects aged 18~44 years old, cultured with a treatment of 100 nM estrogen. The responses between maxilla- and mandible-derived OBs to E2 were evaluated and compared using cell proliferation, alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity and gene expression of osteoprotegerin (OPG), ALP, insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), and estrogen receptor ${\alpha}$ ($ER{\alpha}$). Results: E2 did not have any distinct effects on the proliferation of both types of OBs. Mandible-derived OBs exhibited higher ALP activity than maxilla-derived OBs in the non-treated condition, which was common in all tested individuals. ALP activities of both types of OBs showed a minor increasing tendency with the treatment of E2, even though there was no statistical significance in some specimens. The gene expression of OB by E2 was diverse, depending on the individuals. There was increased expression of OPG, IGF-1, or $ER{\alpha}$ gene in the part of subjects, which was more repeated in maxilla-derived OBs. In particular, OPG or ALP induction by E appeared less frequently in mandible-derived OBs. Conclusion: Current results revealed that E2 affects maxilla- and mandible-derived OBs into facilitating the osteogenic process despite individual differences. Mandible-derived OBs are less sensitive to bone-forming gene expression by E2.

• Maxillofacial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
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• v.39
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• pp.8.1-8.8
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• 2017

Background: For an effective bone graft for reconstruction of the maxillofacial region, an adequate vascular network will be required to supply blood, osteoprogenitor cells, and growth factors. We previously reported that the secretomes of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSC-CM) contain numerous growth factors such as insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-1, transforming growth factor $(TGF)-{\beta}1$, and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), which can affect the cellular characteristics and behavior of regenerating bone cells. We hypothesized that angiogenesis is an important step for bone regeneration, and VEGF is one of the crucial factors in MSC-CM that would enhance its osteogenic potential. In the present study, we focused on VEGF in MSC-CM and evaluated the angiogenic and osteogenic potentials of MSC-CM for bone regeneration. Methods: Cytokines in MSC-CM were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) were cultured with MSC-CM or MSC-CM with anti-VEGF antibody (MSC-CM + anti-VEGF) for neutralization, and tube formation was evaluated. For the evaluation of bone and blood vessel formation with micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) and for the histological and immunohistochemical analyses, a rat calvarial bone defect model was used. Results: The concentrations of IGF-1, VEGF, and $TGF-{\beta}1$ in MSC-CM were $1515.6{\pm}211.8pg/mL$, $465.8{\pm}108.8pg/mL$, and $339.8{\pm}14.4pg/mL$, respectively. Tube formation of HUVECs, bone formation, and blood vessel formation were increased in the MSC-CM group but decreased in the MSC-CM + anti-VEGF group. Histological findings suggested that new bone formation in the entire defect was observed in the MSC-CM group although it was decreased in the MSC-CM + anti-VEGF group. Immunohistochemistry indicated that angiogenesis and migration of endogenous stem cells were much more abundant in the MSC-CM group than in the MSC-CM + anti-VEGF group. Conclusions: VEGF is considered a crucial factor in MSC-CM, and MSC-CM is proposed to be an adequate therapeutic agent for bone regeneration with angiogenesis.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.12
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• pp.6299-6303
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• 2012

Insulin-like growth factor-binding protein-3 (IGFBP3) has been identified as a putative tumor suppressor with multifunctional roles in the IGF axis. Recently, there have been a growing body of studies investigating the relation between the IGFBP3 A-202C polymorphism, circulating IGFBP3 and prostate cancer risk, but their outcomes varied leading to controversy. Hence, it is necessary to perform a meta-analysis covering all eligible studies to shed a light on the association of IGFBP3 A-202C and cancer risk. Finally, we included a total of 11 relevant articles between 2003 and 2010 covering 14 case-control studies including 9,238 cases and 8,741 controls for our analysis. Our results showed that A-202C was a marginal risk factor of prostate cancer (allele contrast: OR=1.08, 95% CI :1.01-1.16; dominant model: OR=1.11, 95% CI :1.01-1.22; heterozygote codominant model: OR=1.11, 95% CI :1.03-1.18; homozygote contrast: OR=1.19, 95% CI :1.03-1.37). Stratification analysis revealed that sample size and control source were two major heterogeneous meta-factors especially in the recessive model (source: Population-based control group :p=0.30,I2=16.7%, Hospital-based control group: p=0.20, I2=30.3%; sample size: Small: p=0.22,I2= 32.8%, Medium: p=0.09,I2=48%, Large p=0.60,I2=0.0%); However, contrary to previous findings, no significance was found in racial subgroups. No significant publication bias was found in our analysis. Considering the robustness of the results and the discrepancy among some studies, there might be some unsolved confounding factors, and further more critical large studies are needed for confirmation.

• Preventive Nutrition and Food Science
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.136-144
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• 2014

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of Platycarya strobilacea S. et Z. (PSE) extract on mouse hair growth and to determine the mechanism of action of PSE. PSE was purchased and its antioxidant activities, such as electron donating ability, total polyphenol content, and flavonoid content were tested. Toxicity during topical treatment was determined by the CCK-8 assay, a cell viability test. Fifteen 4-week-old male C57BL/6 mice were assigned to receive one of three treatments: dimethyl sulfoxide (negative control), minoxidil (positive control) or PSE. Test materials were topically applied to the shaved dorsal skin of each mouse daily for 3 weeks. After 21 days, we observed skin tissue hair follicle morphology and length, mast cell number, and stem cell factor (SCF) expression using hematoxylin and eosin (H&E), toluidine blue, and immunohistochemical staining, respectively. Furthermore, the expression of cytokines involved in hair growth [i.e., insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-1, keratinocyte growth factor (KGF), and transforming growth factor (TGF)-${\beta}1$] was determined by PCR. PSE was found to have very high antioxidant activity. The cell viability rate of PSE-treated mice was markedly higher than that of mice in the control group. We also observed an increase in hair follicle length, strong SCF staining, and a decrease in mast cell number in the PSE group. In addition, PSE-treated mice had higher IGF-1 and KGF expression and lower TGF-${\beta}1$ expression than mice in the minoxidil-treated group. These results suggest that topical application of PSE promotes hair growth by intensifying SCF, suppressing mast cell production, and increasing hair growth-promoting cytokine expression.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.45 no.6
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• pp.606-611
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• 2012

This study examined the effects of dietary glycoprotein extracted from Porphyra yezoensi on growth performance and resistance against the pathogenic bacteria Edwardsiella tarda in olive flounder. A porphyra-originated glycoprotein (P) was extracted using sequential processes of water and ethanol treatment. P extracts were added to a fish-meal-based diet at concentrations of 0.0, 0.5, and 1.0% (designated as Con, $P_{0.5}$, and $P_{1.0}$, respectively). Fish were fed one of the three experimental diets for 10 weeks. All fish groups exhibited over 96.7% survival during the experimental period. Results indicated that the fish fed diets containing P showed an increase in growth performance, including enhanced weight gain, specific growth rate, and feed efficiency. An increase in insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1) was observed in the fish fed the $P_{1.0}$ diet, as compared to those fed Con. At the end of the 10-week feeding trial, all fish were infected with E. tarda, and accumulated mortality was monitored for 8 days. Fish fed the Con diet exhibited increasing mortality from day 3 to the end of the challenge test, whereas the mortality of P-fed fish ceased at day 5. We suggest that supplementation with P-originated glycoprotein in aquafeed may increase growth performance and resistance against pathogenic bacteria in olive flounder juveniles.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.147-151
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• 2006

Effects of wild plant extract (Lak) based on Korea traditional prescription on maximal exercise performance and endurance were evaluated using calorie-restriction animal model. In acute forced swimming test with 10% body weight attached to tail, dietary Lak supplementation increased exercise performance endurance by increasing concentrations of ATP and insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) under calorie-restriction condition, and decrement of blood lactic acid concentration and increment of muscle ATP content were observed. These results suggest Lak is very effective for decreasing side-effects of obesity therapy using very low calorie diet.