• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.1-18
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• 2017

Objectives : The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of water extracts of Eucommiae cortex (EC), Psoraleae semen (PS), and their combination on receptor activator of nuclear factor-kappa-B ligand (RANKL)-induced osteoclast differentiation. Methods : We assayed the protein expression levels of nuclear factor of activated T-cells, cytoplasmic 1 (NFATc1), c-Fos, mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs), and ${\beta}-actin$ in cell lysates using western blotting. Similarly, mRNA expression levels of NFATc1, c-Fos, tartrateresistant acid phosphate (TRAP), and glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase, spermatogeni (GAPDHS) from bone marrow macrophages (BMMs) were analyzed using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Furthermore, we determined the anti-osteoporotic effects of the water extracts of EC, PS, and their combination in a lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced bone-loss mouse model. Results : The in vitro data revealed showed that the combination of EC and PS extract showed a more remarkable inhibition of osteoclast differentiation than each herb did alone. The combination downregulated the induction of c-Fos, NFATc1, and TRAP by suppressing the phosphorylation of p38 and c-Jun N-terminal kinases (JNKs) and inhibiting nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells ($NF-{\kappa}B$). Lastly, the in vivo data showed that PS reduced the LPS-induced bone erosion. Conclusion : The result of this study suggests that EC and PS could be potential therapeutic agents for bone loss diseases such as osteoporosis.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.23 no.8
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• pp.1057-1063
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• 2013

Citri Pericarpium is one of the most commonly used traditional herbal medicines in Korea, China, and Japan. Its extracts have many properties including the treatment of indigestion and inflammatory respiratory syndromes such as bronchitis and asthma. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms of anti-cancer activity and molecular targets are not fully understood. In this work, we investigated the anti-proliferative activity of Citri Pericapium (EMCP) methanol extract on reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and the association of these effects with apoptotic cell death using U937 human leukemia cells in vitro. EMCP treatment decreased cell proliferation in a dose-dependent manner following an increase of the sub-G1 phase, the down-regulation of Bax proteins, the activation of caspases, the degradation of poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase proteins (PARP), and the induction of ROS generation. However, the quenching of ROS generation by N-acetyl-L-cysteine administration, a scavenger of ROS, reversed the EMCP-induced apoptosis effects. In addition, heme oxygenase-1 expression also recovered by inhibiting the nuclear translocation of phosphorylated NF-E2-related factor 2. Taken together, our data indicate that ROS are involved as key mediators in the early molecular events in the EMCP-induced apoptotic pathway.

• Journal of Korean Philosophical Society
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• v.117
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• pp.35-55
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• 2011

This article purports to clarify the doctrinal characteristics of the $Yog{\bar{a}}c{\bar{a}}ra$ school's hermeneutic interpretations of the "theory of the three turns of the Dharma Cakra" in the Saṃdbinirmocana-sūtra through early Indian $Yog{\bar{a}}c{\bar{a}}ra$ treatises such as the $Yog{\bar{a}}c{\bar{a}}rabb{\bar{u}}mi-vy{\bar{a}}kby{\bar{a}}$ and the. $Vy{\bar{a}}khy{\bar{a}}yukti$. It will probe how these interpretations apply co the theory of two truths or that of three natures($trisvabh{\bar{a}}va$) among the main doctrines of the $Yog{\bar{a}}c{\bar{a}}ra$ school. Especially, the peculiar characteristic of the "theory of the three turns of the Dharma Cakra" is such chat the thought of ${\acute{s}}{\bar{u}}nyat{\bar{a}}$ in the lineage of $Praj{\bar{n}}{\bar{a}}p{\bar{a}}ramita-s{\bar{u}}tras$ is regarded as incomplete, as the early school of Madhyamaka represented by $N{\bar{a}}g{\bar{a}}rjuna$ is conceived of as belonging to the second period of turn. Speaking of the further details of the "theory of the three turns of the Dharma Cakra", the $Yog{\bar{a}}c{\bar{a}}ra$ school subdivides the realm of saṃvṛti satya in $N{\bar{a}}g{\bar{a}}rjuna^{\prime}s$ theory of two truths; that is, it divides the saṃvṛti into merely linguistic existence and actual existence, and the thus-created structure of the theory of three natures on the basis of ocher-dependent nature(paratantra-$svabh{\bar{a}}va$) makes it possible to establish the doctrinal system of the thought of ${\acute{s}}{\bar{u}}nyat{\bar{a}}$ that is not subject to "nihilism or ${\acute{s}}{\bar{u}}nyat{\bar{a}}$ attached to evil." In effect, the above hermeneutic interpretation of the "theory of the three turns of the Dharma Cakra" is inherited into the structure of the $abh{\bar{u}}taparikalpa$ in the $Madhy{\bar{a}}nta-vibh{\bar{a}}ga$ so that, as seen in the commentary of Sthiramati, it is ascertained to apply to later doctrines through its secure establishment. To summarize its characteristics succinctly, firstly the $abh{\bar{u}}taparikalpa$ newly established as a saṃvṛti-satya is set up as the other-dependent nature, which is seen to have been set up particularly in order to sublate both the $Sarv{\bar{a}}stiv{\bar{a}}da^{\prime}s$ realist "view of being" and the Madhyamaka's "view of ${\acute{s}}{\bar{u}}nyat{\bar{a}}$" that impairs the ocher-dependent nature as a samvṛti-satya. In other words, according to the five kinds of views suggested in Sthiramati's commentary, the three natures are seen to be presented as the fundamental truth in order to unify all the doctrinal systems available ever since the beginning of Buddhism. Then, the theory of three natures is established principally on the basis of the $abh{\bar{u}}taparikalpa$, while the two truths of the $Yog{\bar{a}}c{\bar{a}}ra$ school are clearly ascertained to have been embedded in the structure of the $abh{\bar{u}}taparikalpa$. In fact, this might be understood to reflect the unique ontological view of reality or truth in the $Yog{\bar{a}}c{\bar{a}}ra$ School.

• Food Science and Preservation
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• v.24 no.8
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• pp.1149-1157
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• 2017

Inflammation is the first response of the immune system to infection or irritation in our body. The use of medicinal plants has been widely applied as an alternative source for drug development. One of marine natural resources, the anti-inflammatory effect of Ishige sinicola ethanol extract (ISEE), was evaluated by using LPS-induced RAW 264.7 cell and mice model. As a result, the production of nitric oxide (NO) and pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-6, IL-$1{\beta}$, TNF-${\alpha}$) were inhibited with increasing concentration of ISEE without any cytotoxicity. Furthermore, ISEE suppressed the expression of not only inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-${\kappa}B$) p65, and mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs), including extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) 1/2, p38, and c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) in a dose-dependent manner. In mice ear edema test, the formation of edema was reduced at the highest dosage of ISEE and the reduction of the number of infiltrated mast cells was observed in histological analysis. These results indicate that ISEE has a potent anti-inflammatory activity and can be used as a pharmaceutical material for many kinds of inflammatory disease.