• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
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• v.34 no.2 s.133
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• pp.145-149
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• 2003

Many chemotherapeutic drugs were developed and contributed to the increase of cure rate of cancer, however severe side effect of these drugs is a major cause of poor quality of life of cancer patients. Effect of deer blood on cancer therapy was investigated in mouse tumor model. Deer blood itself was shown to have mild antitumor activity. However it has significant effect on the reduction of the side effects of chemotherapy. Deer blood recovered the reduction of WBC and platelet (myelotoxicity) during fluorouracil chemotherapy. Deer blood also recovered the increase of serum blood urea nitrogen (BUN; indicator of renal toxicity) and increase of serum amylase activity (AMY; indicator of pancreatic toxicity) almost to the control level during cisplatin chemotherapy. Fluorouracil and cisplatin are major chemotherapeutic drugs which are currently used in clinical cancer therapy, and the results strongly suggest that deer blood can be used for reducing the side effects and improving the quality of life during chemotherapy of cancer patients.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.47-55
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• 2012

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the preventive effect of red ginseng (RG) on 5-fluorouracil (5-FU)-induced side effects focusing on myelosuppression. Methods: Rats (n = 50) were divided into five groups, nave, control (ip, 5-FU injection of 150 mg/kg), and RG pre-treatment (po, 25, 50 and 100 mg/kg for 5 days before 5-FU injection). On the $7^{th}$ day after 5-FU injection, we evaluated the effects using peripheral hematological parameters, colony-forming assay, cytokine levels and histopathological finding. Results: The peripheral white blood cell and the differential count were dramatically suppressed by 5-FU, while RG (50 and 100 mg/kg) treatment significantly improved total white blood cell, neutrophil, lymphocyte and platelet counts. Also, RG (100 mg/kg) pre-treatment significantly increased the number of CFU-GM colony compared with the control group. RG pre-treatment also ameliorated the histopathological damage in bone marrow, spleen, stomach and small intestine tissue. Conclusions: These results demonstrate that Korean RG has preventive effects against 5-FU-induced myelotoxicity and gastrointestinal damage.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.197-201
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• 2006

A 2-year-old female mongrel dog was referred to the Veterinary Medical Center of Chungbuk National University due to anorexia, depression and weight loss after the administration of exogenous estrogen for contraception in the local hospital. Although the dog was medicated with antibiotics and fluid for two weeks in the local hospital, there was a deterioration in the patient's general condition. Therefore the dog was referred to our Veterinary Medical Center. Hematological and biochemical analysis showed non-regenerative anemia, thrombocytopenia, severely immature leukocytosis, hyperbilirubinemia, hyperglycemia and elevated serum alkaline phosphatase, gamma-glutamyltransferase, and lactate dehydrogenase. Abdominal ultrasonography showed double line of gallbladder and irregular hypertrophic wall of uterus. On the basis of these examination's results and history taking, final diagnosis was exogenous estrogen-induced myelotoxicosis with cholecystitis and endometritis. The symptomatic therapy for estrogen toxicosis was performed for 26 days after the final diagnosis. However, the symptom had no response to therapy except endometritis and anemia. On day 135 after administration of estrogen, platelet and neutrophil count were normalized, but monocytic leukocytosis was occurred.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.914-920
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• 1989

Bleomycin and cyclophosphamide are widely used and effective anti-cancer agents for treatment of various forms of cancer. Bleomycin has no myelotoxicity, but because of potential risk of pulmonary complications including interstitial pneumonitis and idiopathic interstitial pulmonary fibrosis, it has been limited in use. Some investigator has also suggested that cyclophosphamide can induce pulmonary toxicity like bleomycin. Recently, The combination chemotherapy including bleomycin and cyclophosphamide has been adopted effectively in some types of cancer. But there are no available literatures for synergistic effect of pulmonary toxicity in combination chemotherapy including these two drugs. We tried this study to observe synergism of pulmonary toxicity using these two drugs in rats. The animals were divided into five groups: group 1 received intra-peritoneal injection of saline, group 2-a received only bleomycin 0.1 mg [0.4 mg/kg] by intra-peritoneal injection twice a week, group 2-b received only bleomycin 0.5 mg [2 mg/kg] by intra-peritoneal injection twice a week, group 3-a received bleomycin 0.1 mg [0.4 mg/kg] twice a week +cyclophosphamide 5 mg [20 mg/kg] two weeks interval by intra-peritoneal injection, group 3-b received bleomycin 0.5 mg [2 mg/kg] twice a week + cyclophosphamide 5 mg[20 mg/kg] two weeks interval by intra-peritoneal injection. The animals were sacrificed at 2 and 4 weeks later. Lung tissues were obtained and observed by light microscope. The results are as follows: 1. The pathologic findings of group 1 were normal without change. 2. There was no difference between group 2-a and group 3-a at 2 weeks later, group 3-a, however, revealed more severe change in lung tissue at 4 weeks later compared with group 2-a. 3. In group 3-b there was more severe pulmonary injury compared with group 2-b at 2 and 4 weeks later. We conclude that the combined administration of bleomycin and cyclophosphamide induce more severe pulmonary toxic effect than bleomycin administration alone and the combination chemotherapy including these two drugs will be require special attention to selection of the dose of each drug.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.42 no.6
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• pp.1269-1284
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• 2021

Objectives: Phragmitis Rhizoma is the fresh or dried rhizome of Phragmites communis Trin., which has been prescribed in traditional Korean medicine to relieve fever and vomiting and to nourish the body fluids. Recently, the protective effect of Phragmitis Rhizoma extract or its components on myelotoxicity and inflammatory responses have been reported, but no study has yet been conducted on oxidative stress. Methods: The present study investigated whether an ethanol extract of Phragmitis Rhizoma (PR) could protect against cellular damage induced by oxidative stress in Chang liver cells. Results: Pretreatment with PR significantly suppressed the hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂)-induced reduction of Chang cell viability and generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), thereby deferring apoptosis. PR also markedly inhibited H₂O₂-induced comet tail formation and phospho-γH2AX expression, suggesting that PR protected against oxidative stress-mediated DNA damage. PR also effectively prevented the inhibition of ATP synthesis in H₂O₂-treated Chang cells by inhibiting the loss of mitochondrial membrane potential, indicating that PR maintains energy metabolism through preservation of mitochondrial function while eliminating ROS generated by H₂O₂. Immunoblotting results indicated that PR attenuated the H₂O₂-induced downregulation of Bcl-2 and upregulation of Bax expression. Conclusions: PR protects against oxidative injury in Chang liver cells by regulating energy homeostasis via ROS generation blockade, which is at least partly mediated through inactivation of the mitochondria-mediated apoptosis pathway.