• Toxicological Research
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.137-141
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• 1996

A teratological study was performed using New Zealand White rabbits to examine the teratological potential of Ginkgo biloba extract(EGb 761), which is a known strong platelet activating factor antagonist. Ginkgo biloba extract(EGb 761) was administered per intravenously during the organogenesis period (day 6th to 18th of gestation) of rabbits at dose levels of 7.5, 15, and 30 mg/kg/day. All pregnant females were sacrificed on day 29 of gestation and teratological abnormalities of their fetuses was examined. No statistically significant difference of body weight change between control and treated groups during experimental periods was noted. There was no statistically signifiant difference of numbers of corpus lutes and implantations, fetal death ratio, fetal sex ratio, and placental weight between control and rabbits exposed to three different concentration ranges of Ginkgo biloba extract (EGb 761). No marked external, visceral and skeletal abnormalities related to Ginkgo biloba extract(EGb 761) were observed in the fetuses. In conclusion Ginkgo biloba extract(EGb 761) does not show any effect on implantation or embryonic development.

• Journal of the Korean Home Economics Association
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.733-739
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• 1966

A 371 agricultural households from 26 different communities in South Korea was subjected on a study of food taboos in January of 1966. To the pregnant women, those to whom a high protein diet is particurally important, as many as 14 different kinds of foods, mostly portein rich foods, were avoided to eat. It is believed that if duck is eaten while pregnant her baby may walk like a duck in later life. Some mother have a strong aversion to the rabbit meat that her unborn baby must be a harelip. It is feared to eat chicken, shark or carp by the pregnant mother for her baby may get a gooseflesh appearance, or fish scale-like skin in later life. It is thought that if mother eats soup made of meat borns, especially chicken bones, a disfigured baby may be born. Some area informed that if mother eats crab meat her future baby will always bubble. To the child-bearing mothers 13 different kinds of foods were avoided to eat. Some believe that if raddish kimchi, soybean curd, squash are eaten while dilivery that mother may get dental decay or to lose all her teeth. Other think that highly spiced raddish kimchi cause delivery difficult. To the lactating mothers 7 different items of foods were not recommended to eat. It is a common belief that eating green vegetables, especially fresh lettuce, are restricted that her baby may stool greenish. It is said that eating ginsen-chicken soup, or ginsen tea during lactating reduces breast milk secretion. To the weaning babies 7 different kinds of foods were prohibited to fee. Eggs are not eaten because mothers think her babies will start to talk very late. Eight different items of foods in cases of gastro-intestinal diseases, 5 items for liver disease, 7 items for high blood pressure as well as for paralysis were respectively restricted. It is said that meats including pork, beef, and chicken are neither desirable for the patients of high blood pressure nor those of paralysis. To the measles children 10 varieties of foods were restricted. Especially soybean products and meats were not encouraged to use for avoiding asecond attack of measles. For the common cold 8 different kinds of foods were aversed and men think that eating of soup of undria delays a recovery. For the tuberculosis 4 kinds of foods were prohibited to eat. It is said that wine, red pepper and ginsen will stimulate lung bleeding. Many mothers had a strong aversion to fermented shrimp and fish in case of style. and 5 different items of foods were restricted. In case of menstration not so many foods were restricted as other cases, but meat soup is not eaten in this condition in some areas. Majority of food taboos in Korean villages are neither based on tribal nor religious factors. But no one knows how, since what ages, from where, these food taboos have been transmitted and spread over the country. This survey found a great variety of food taboos, aversions, traditional beliefs and prohibitions latent unknown reseasons, or non-scientific conceptions, or completely different ideas from the modern medical aspect, or somewhat fallacious and superstitious beliefs. For the vascular disease contrasting approach were found between modern the oritical therapy and popular remedy among the rural populations who largely depend on the eastern medication. Further scientific study on either side should be done to lead the patient proper way. Many restricted foods such as rabbit, duck, chicken and fish are best resources of protein rich foods which are available in the village. Emphasis should be laid upon breaking down fallacious and supersititious food taboos through the extended nutrition education activities in order to improve food habit and good eating pattern for healthier and stronger generations of Korea.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 1984

In order to determine the extent of the placental transfer of Lithium ion, pregnant rabbits at $27{\sim}29$ days of gestation, which has hemochorial placenta similar to the human placenta, received 2 mM/Kg of $Li^+$ in the form of LiCl intravenously. Maternal arterial blood, placental sinus blood, fetal blood, amniotic fluid and maternal urine were drawn two hours after the single dose of LiCl. Concentrations of $Li^+$, $Na^+$, $K^+$ and osmolarity were measured in plasma of collected bloods, amniotic fluid and urine. Followings are the results obtained. 1) Evident level of $Li^+$ was detected in fetal blood, although fetal plasma concentration of $Li^+$ found to be almost one third of maternal plasma. 2) Plasma concentration of $Li^+$ in placental sinus blood was higher than that in fetal plasma but lower than that in maternal plasma. It means that downward concentration gradient of $Li^+$ from mother to fetus was still remarkable two hours after the injection. 3) Significant level of $Li^+$ was also detected in amniotic fluid. It seemed likely that $Li^+$, at least in part, excreted by the fetal urinary tract. 4) There were no differences in $Na^+$ and osmolar concentration between fetal and maternal blood. 5) From above results, it was concluded that $Li^+$ may transfer across the placenta but limited passage capacity through placental barrier for $Li^+$ is significant, beacause net transfer assumed to be going on even at two hours, at which time maternal equlibrium has been reached.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.49-58
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• 1977

Nutrition counselors in Korea often encounter difficulty in their attempt to change village women's attitudes regarding food taboos which are counter to good eating habits. There are a great many food superstitions which are not due to religious influence, but seem to be related to shape and composition of food. Many expectant mothers superstitiously avoid eating certain foods for fear that they may cause mental or physical abnormality in their babies. As was shown in a previous survey (Mo, 1966)of villages in all provinces except Jeju Island, such superstitions were common among pregnant and lactating mothers. Many food taboos and superstitions based on non-scientific and irrational ideas do exist even in modern society, and are a major obstacle to nutritionally adequate food consumption. A study of food taboos among women of Jeju Island was undertaken from November to December of 1976, these results to be compared as well with those of the previous study. There were 73 items found to be prohibited during pregnancy. Of these, 48.7% were of the deaf group, 17.4% fish, 5.5% eggs, 4.7% cereal, and only 2.2% fruit. Of 252% women respondents, 111 (45% ) abstained from eating chicken, duck, and shark because of the belief that they would cause their babies to be born with gooseflesh or shark skin. Many of them avoided rabbit meat for fear that their babies might be born with harelip. It was also feared that a baby would become disfigured if his mother ate duck, goat, dog meat, chicken or duck eggs, or soup made of bones. A common superstition was that highly spiced or salty foods would cause the fetus to be hairless. Squid and octopus were believed to cause babies to have weak bones, or none at all. Most of these food taboos were associated with fears concerning Physical structure and appearance of unborn babies. Other taboos were associated with fear of undesirable behavioral characteristics. For example, some mothers thought that a baby would pinch or bite the mother's breast during the weaning period, if crab meat were eaten during pregnancy. Unevenly sliced rice cake, loach, snake meat and eel were also believed to cause a baby to be ill-tempered. The findings of this study are remarkably similar to those of the previous study conducted by the authour in 1966. Most of the same food taboos, based on non-scientific and irrational reasons, were found on Jeju Island as on the peninsula, and thor were similarly wide-spread. The results of correlational analysis show that the most significant factors related to prevalence of food taboos, are level of education and religious background. Number of food taboos is correlated with level of education. Also, food taboos are least freqent among the Christian woman. Proper nutrition education should he undertaken in order to encourage intake of protein-rich food, particularly during pregnancy when nutritional needs of mother and fetus are great.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.79-90
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• 1994

The objective of the present study is to assess the contribution of bulk flow to the regulatory mechanism of amniotic fluid volume and its ionic concentration in the membranes surrounding the amniotic fluid. For quantitative assessment, we prepared 4 kinds of artificial amniotic fIuids (isotonic isovolumetric, hypotonic isovolumetric, isotonic hypervolumetric and hypotonic hypervolumetric ones) by replacing 70% of amniotic fluid of pregnant rabbits with water or normal Tyrode solutions. Isoosmotic saline of 0.5 ml volume containing 0.05% Censored and 15 mM/l LiCl was administered initially into amniotic sacs of all subject animals. Samples of amniotic fluid were collected in after 30 and 90 minute intervals; the concentrations of Censored, $Na^+\;and\;Li^+$ were determined and compared. Followings are the results obtained. 1. from isovolumetric and increased Congcord group, we couldn't find significant change in $Li^+\;and\;Na^+$ concentration in isotonic amniotic fluid. However, $Na^+$ concentration increased significantly as well as a striking increase in Censored concentration in hypotonic amniotic fluid. 2. In isovoIumetric and decreased Censored group, the rate of $[Li^+]$ decrement and the rate of $[Na^+]$ increment were much higher in hypotonic amniotic fluid than in isotonic. 3. In hypervolumetric and increased Censored group, the rate of $Na^+$ efflux increased proportionately with the increment of Censored concentration up to 0.98, which was higher than the rate of $Li^+$ efflux in isotonic amniotic fluid. However, the increment of $Na^+$ concentration was rather related with the initial $Na^+$ concentration in hypotonic amniotic fluid, showing inverse relationship. $Li^+$ concentration increased only when there was a marked increase in Censored concentration and approached near a maximum value or 1. 4. For hypervolumetric and decreased Censored group, the observations were identical to isovolumetric and decreased Censored group. From these results the following conclusions could be made: 1) There is no net movement of water or monovalent cations across the membranes surrounding amniotic fIuid in isotonic isovolumetric condition. In contrast, there is a net efflux of amniotic fluid by osmotic bulk flow, resulting in elevation of $Na^+$ concentration in hypotonic isovolumetric condition. 2) In hypervolumetric conditions, there is a massive efflux of amniotic fluid or solvent drag through the surrounding membranes by fiItrative bulk flow, where the rate of $Na^+$ efflux has a linear relationship with that of water efflux. This is assumed to be carried out through enlarged and newly opened intercellular spaces resulting from increased intraamniotic pressure. 3) Once increasing intraamniotic pressure reaches a point allowing $Li^+$ to pass through during osmotic bulk flow in hypotonic amniotic fIuid, $Na^+$ influx seems to occur by diffusion simultaneously or immediately thereafter, too.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.53 no.1
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• pp.36-45
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• 2002

Background : In mammals, the activity of antioxidant enzymes is increased in adult lung to adapt to hyperoxia. The increase of these activities is augmented in neonates and is known as an important mechanism of tolerance to high oxygen levels. Peroxiredoxin(Prx) is an abundant and ubiquitous intracellular antioxidant enzyme. Prx I and II are major cytosolic subtypes. The aim of this study was to examine th Prx I and II mRNA and protein expression levels in adult rat lungs and to compare then with those of neonatal rat lungs exposed to hyperoxia. Materials and Methods : Adult Sprague-Dawley rats and neonates that were delivered from timed pregnant Sprague-Dawley rat were randomly exposed to normoxia or hyperoxia. After exposure to high oxygen level for a set time, the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid and lung tissue were obtained. The Prx I and II protein expression levels were measured by western blot analysis using polyclonal rabbit anti-Prx I or anti-Prx II antibodies and the relative expression of the Prx I and Prx II per Actin protein were obtained as an internal standard. The Prx I and II mRNA expression levels were measured by northernblot analysis using Prx I and Prx II-specific cDNA prepared from pCRPrx I and pCRPrx II, and the relative Prx I and Prx II expression levels per Actin mRNA were obtained as an internal standard. Results : Hyperoxia induced some peak increase in the Prx I mRNA levels after 24 hour in adult rats. Interestingly, hyperoxia induced a marked increase of Prx I mRNA 24 hour in neonatal rats. However, hyperoxia did not induce an alteration in the expression of Prx II mRNA in both the adult and neonatal rat lungs. Hyperoxia did not induce an alteration in the expression of the Prx I and Prx II protein in both the adult and neonatal rat lungs. Hyperoxia did not induce an alteration in the amount of Prx I and Prx II protein all the times in the bronchoalveolar fluid of adult rats. Conclusion : Prx I and II is differently regulated by hyperoxia in adult and neonatal rat lung at the transcriptional level. The prominent upregulation of Prx I mRNA in neonates compared to those in adults by hyperoxia may be another mechanism of resistance to high oxygen levels in neonate.