• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.356-361
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• 2016

During storage, boar spermatozoa undergo several changes including diminished motility and viability and accumulated reactive oxygen species (ROS). In this study, we investigated the effects of green tea extract (GTE) supplementation in the Sui Dil extender on the sperm motility, viability, ROS and lipid peroxidation (LPO) of long-term preserved boar semen at $17^{\circ}C$. A total number of eight boars were used for this experiment. Pooled ejaculates were diluted to $20{\times}10^6sperm/ml$ in the Sui Dil extender containing 0 (control), 1, 10, 100 or 500 mg/l GTE and were preserved at $17^{\circ}C$ for 24, 72, 120 and 168 h, respectively. At each storage time, sperm motility and viability were estimated by microscopic examination and the fluorescent double stain $Fertilight^{(R)}$, respectively. Sperm ROS level and LPO were assessed using the 2', 7'-dichlorodihydrofluorescein diacetate ($H_2DCFDA$)/propidium iodide (PI) and C11-BODIPY581/591/PI with flow cytometry, respectively. Compared to that of the 500 mg group, there were higher sperm motility and viability in the 1, 10 and 100 mg GTE groups during the preservation from 24 to 168 h (p < 0.05). The ROS levels of the 10 and 100 mg groups during the 168 h preservation were lower than those of the 0, 1 and 500 mg groups (p < 0.05). There were no significant differences in LPO regardless of the preservation period or the GTE concentration. In conclusion, the optimal concentrations (10 and 100 mg/l) of GTE that led to lower ROS levels may be useful for liquid boar sperm preservation at $17^{\circ}C$ for a period of 168 h.

• Journal of Sasang Constitutional Medicine
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.138-145
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• 2021

Objectives Edema occurs in various disorders, such as heart failure, nephrotic syndrome, renal failure, liver cirrhosis, and cancer. The excessive accumulation of interstitial fluid in limb tissue will often manifest with ankle and knee swelling and lowers patient's quality of life. But the conventional treatment includes restricting dietary sodium and using diuretics. The purpose of this study is about significant improvement of a patient with edema who had suffered from dependent gait accompanied by mild pain, after treatment by herbal medicine based on SCM(Sasang constitutional medicine). Methods The pattern identification of the patient was diagnosed with a superficial disease of Taeeumin. So after the admission, Gunyuljejo-tang was used, almost two times per day during 2 weeks. Also, we applied acupuncture routinely every day and western medicine as needed. We measured the circumferences of Lt. thigh and followed up the bioelectrical impedance analysis and checked the appearance of lower limb. Results and Conclusions The therapy was effective, and the circumferences, which was 59.69cm at onset time, decreased to 52.07cm almost same to the healthy side of her thigh. There was no more edematous sign on the body, either. This case showed that management of Taeeumin's healthy energy(呼散之氣, the energy of exhalation) could be effective in treating edema.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.268-272
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• 2021

Bone marrow-derived cell (BMDC) therapy has numerous applications as potential biological cells for use in regenerative medicine. Here, we present an original case of endometrial atrophy associated with genital tuberculosis in a woman who achieved a live birth with BMDC. This 27-year-old woman came to our center with endometrial atrophy and primary infertility. She had a past history of genital tuberculosis and amenorrhea. Her husband's semen quality was normal. The patient was counseled for hysteroscopy due to thin endometrium and advised in vitro fertilization (IVF) with donor eggs in lieu of poor ovarian reserve. Several attempts of IVF with hormone replacement therapy (HRT) were made, but the desired thickness of the endometrium was not achieved. Uterine artery injection of BMDC through interventional radiology was given, followed by HRT for three months, which resulted in improved endometrium. This was subsequently followed by IVF with donor egg. The treatment resulted in the conception and delivery of a 3.1-kg baby boy through lower segment caesarean section with no antenatal, intranatal or postnatal complications. Recently, there has been massive interest in stem cells as a novel treatment method for regenerative medicine, and more specifically for the regeneration of human endometrium disorders like Asherman syndrome and thin endometrium, which was the reason behind using this strategy for treatment.

• Journal of Oriental Neuropsychiatry
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.179-190
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• 2014

Objectives: This study was performed to review the research trends regarding the treatment of Postpartum Depression (P.P.D) in the Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). Methods: We searched articles in CNKI (China National Knowledge Infrastructure) from 2004 to 2013. Search key words were "产后抑郁症", "Postpartum Depression", and we selected 27 studies except for non-clinical studies, insufficient number of studies, unrelated studies and tests on animals. Results: We selected 27 articles with following results: 1) One study of Jadad Quality Assessment Scale score showed 3 points, 4 studies showed 2 points and 22 studies showed less than 1 point. Overall, the quality of the studies was low. 2) DSM - IV was frequently used as a diagnostic criteria and HAMD was mostly used as evaluation criteria. Diagnostic criteria and evaluation criteria were the same in HAMD and EPDS. 3) In TCM, there are various ways, such as herbal medicine, acupuncture, electro acupuncture, auricular acupuncture and/or massage to treat the postpartum depression. 4) The roots of Bupleurum falcatum Linne, Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch, Angelica gigas Nakai and Paeonia lactiflora Pall, the rhizome of Atractylodis macrocephala Koidz, the semen of Zizyphus jujuba Mill, the radix of Curcuma aromatica Salisb, the sclerotium of Poria cocos Wolf and the rhizomas of Cyperus rotundus L and of Cnidium officinale Makino are mainly used in the herbal medicine. BaekHoi (GV20) and Yindang (Ex-HN3) are mainly used in acupuncture points. 5) Most of the studies showed effective results. Some of the results were similar to those of the control groups which were cured by western medicine. Other results were better than those of control groups. Conclusions: Research on postpartum depression has been actively conducted in TCM and all studies showed effective results in the study group patients. Therefore, with this study, we hope to activate more clinical research on the treatment of patients in Korean traditional medicine.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.13-19
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• 2011

Semen cryopreservation induces the formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), and the ROS cause sperm damage. We aimed to investigate the effects of the antioxidative enzyme catalase (CAT) on sperm quality and ROS during cryopreservation. Sperm rich fractions collected from five Duroc boars were cryopreserved in freezing extender with (200 or 400 U/mL) or without CAT (control). After thawing, sperm motility, viability, normal morphology, plasma membrane integrity, mitochondrial function and intracellular ROS were evaluated. CAT significantly improved total sperm motility at a concentration of 400 U/mL (P < 0.05), but didn't improve progressive sperm motility, viability, morphological defects, plasma membrane integrity and mitochondrial function in frozen-thawed boar sperm. In evaluation of ROS, CAT had no effect on reduction in ${\cdot}O_2$, but scavenged $H_2O_2$ in viable frozen-thawed boar sperm at concentrations of 200 and 400 U/mL (P < 0.05). In conclusion, CAT was not enough to improve quality of frozen-thawed sperm, but can reduce $H_2O_2$ generation in viable boar sperm during cryopreservation.

• Journal of Embryo Transfer
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.1-17
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• 1991

It is widely recognized that the embryonic or fetal loss after breeding is common in the cattle and that it is an important factor affecting reproductive efficiency. The causes of this loss have been subject of extensive researches and the results indicate that the embryonic mortality may he primary factor responsible for low pregnancy rates in non-embryo transfer bovine populations as well as embryo transfer programs. However, it's causes are still not clearly understood. The embryonic mortality or pregnancy rate has been influenced by various embryonic and maternal effects related to genetic and environmental factors. The timing and extent of embryonic mortality vanes greatly according to authors and estimating methods, because it is difficult to make direct measurements. The major important factors that may influence the embryonic losses or pregnancy rates after embryo transfer can be summeirized. 1.When an embryo is transferred to unmated recipients, the contralateral transfer to corpus luteum results in a lower survival rate than ipsilateral deposition. When the embryos are transferred for the production of twin calves, their survivals and twin pregnancies have quite inconsistent according to the transfer methods either to the unmated-synchronized or already mated recipients and more works are needed to accurrately clarify the previous results. 2.Although embryos can be cultured in vitro some hours without the great declines in pregnancy rates, the rates differ markedly among culture times and media but may be improved by co-transfer systems. 3.Embryo developmental stages and quality grades clearly affect the survival rate following freezing and the pregnancy rate after transfer and the selection of embryos without chromosome abnormalities and of high fertile semen may also be considered to increase the pregnancy rates. 4.Many researches have attempted to relate the plasma progesterone levels to pregnancy rates and others have done either direct progesterone supplementation or luteal stimulation by hCG treatment in order to increase the pregnancy rates. However, these effects on pregnancy rates are inconsistent and also contradictory. 5.The asynchrony between donors or embryos and recipients may he a major cause of embryo death and low pregnancy rate and the sensitivity to uterine asynchyony differs in according to the quality and stages of embryos. 6.The extremes of poor or over nutrition during early pregnancy in the recipients are detrimental to the survival of embryos and the good body condition is required to prevent a reduejion of pregnancy rates. The uterine pathogens in embryonic mortality or fertility have been questioned but the infection of C.pyogenes and Campylobacter fetus is still important pathogens. 7.The heat stress during early pregnancy may reduce conceptus weight and possibly increase the embryonic mortality.

• Journal of Korean Medicine Rehabilitation
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.45-52
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• 2015

Objectives To check marker content for appropriate quality control of Woohwangchungsimwon sterilized to ensure microbiological safety and to observe antioxidant activity for any changes in efficacy. Methods To measure any effects of sterilization on the effective compounds, 8 ingredients of Woohwangchungsimwon were screened for any changes in marker content using HPLC-DAD. Using the colorimetric method on the microplate reader any changes in total phenolic compound and flavonoid levels were observed. Antioxidant activity was measured using the DPPH, ABTS, and FRAP. Results Of the ingredients of Woohwangchungsimwon, 8 were subject to quantitative analysis before and after sterilization. 21.6 mg and 1.93 mg of Glycyrrhizin was found in Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fischer pre and post sterilization, respectively. Decursin found in Angelica gigas Nakai increased from 0.16 mg to 0.29 mg after sterilization. Bilirubin found in Gallstone of Bostaurusvar. domesticus increased from 0.24 mg to 0.33 mg. Cinnamic acid found in Cinnamomum cassia Blume increased from 0.02 mg to 0.05 mg. Ginsenoside Rb1 found in Panax ginseng C. A. Meyer decreased from 0.02 mg to 0.14 mg. Paeoniflorin found in Paeonia lactiflora Pallas increased from 1.05 mg to 1.13 mg. Amygdalin found in Armeniacae Amarum Semen increased from 2.68 mg to 2.83 mg. L-muscone found in Musk increased from 0.63 mg to 0.76 mg. As for total phenolic compound and total flavonoid content, there was a 1.22 and 4.15-fold increase. DPPH and ABTS increased by 20.45% and 20.69%, respectively. FRAP activity was 2.78 times more active post stabilization. Conclusions This study confirmed that high temperature high pressure steam sterilization, a method used to ensure microbiological safety of Woohwangchungsimwon, does not affect marker content; in other words, does not affect quality of the Woohwangchungsimwon. It could also be seen that total phenolic compound and flavonoid content increased after sterilization. An antioxidant activity test showed that there was significantly increased activity of antioxidants.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.320-333
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• 2019

Objective: The Shanghai Holstein cattle breed is susceptible to severe mastitis and other diseases due to the hot weather and long-term humidity in Shanghai, which is the main distribution centre for providing Holstein semen to various farms throughout China. Our objective was to determine the genetic mechanisms influencing economically important traits, especially diseases that have huge impact on the yield and quality of milk as well as reproduction. Methods: In our study, we detected the structural variations of 1,092 Shanghai Holstein cows by using next-generation sequencing. We used the DELLY software to identify deletions and insertions, cn.MOPS to identify copy-number variants (CNVs). Furthermore, we annotated these structural variations using different bioinformatics tools, such as gene ontology, cattle quantitative trait locus (QTL) database and ingenuity pathway analysis (IPA). Results: The average number of high-quality reads was 3,046,279. After filtering, a total of 16,831 deletions, 12,735 insertions and 490 CNVs were identified. The annotation results showed that these mapped genes were significantly enriched for specific biological functions, such as disease and reproduction. In addition, the enrichment results based on the cattle QTL database showed that the number of variants related to milk and reproduction was higher than the number of variants related to other traits. IPA core analysis found that the structural variations were related to reproduction, lipid metabolism, and inflammation. According to the functional analysis, structural variations were important factors affecting the variation of different traits in Shanghai Holstein cattle. Our results provide meaningful information about structural variations, which may be useful in future assessments of the associations between variations and important phenotypes in Shanghai Holstein cattle. Conclusion: Structural variations identified in this study were extremely different from those of previous studies. Many structural variations were found to be associated with mastitis and reproductive system diseases; these results are in accordance with the characteristics of the environment that Shanghai Holstein cattle experience.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.21 no.9
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• pp.251-258
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• 2020

This study investigated the effect of Zardaverine supplementation in freezing extender, on kinetic characteristics of post-thawed boar sperm. Cryopreservation of boar sperm is an important technique of assisted reproductive technology and genetic resource banking. Although this technique is particularly useful, freeze-thaw cycles associated with sperm cryopreservation significantly reduce sperm quality. Semen from mature Duroc boars were collected and cryopreserved in freezing extenders (LEY) treated with varying concentrations of Zardaverine (0, 20, 50, 75, 100 𝜇M). The time-dependent kinetic characteristics of post-thawed spermatozoa were determined after thawing by applying computer-assisted sperm analysis (CASA). We observed that the motility immediately after thawing was significantly higher in 20 𝜇M stocks than in control (0 𝜇M) and the other treatments (p<0.05). Curvilinear velocity (VCL) in 0 𝜇M and 20 𝜇M stocks were significantly higher than the other treatment groups, except 75 𝜇M (p<0.05). Higher average path velocity (VAP) was obtained at 20 𝜇M as compared to 100 𝜇M, whereas amplitude of head lateral displacement (ALH) was significantly higher at 20 𝜇M than 50 𝜇M and 100 𝜇M (p<0.05). No differences were obtained for Straight-line velocity (VSL) and Linearity (LIN). In conclusion, our results indicate that Zardaverine improves the motility, VCL, VAP, and ALH of post-thawed boar sperm.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.726-740
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• 2023

Objectives: This review investigated the research on warm herbal foot bath therapy (WHFT) for insomnia. Methods: A search was conducted on the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) database to collect relevant studies published up to August 29, 2023. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing WHFT and sleeping pills in patients with insomnia were included. The methodological quality of the included studies was assessed using the Cochrane risk-of-bias assessment tool. The results of the meta-analysis were presented as risk ratios (RRs) or mean differences (MDs) and their 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Results: A total of 11 RCTs were included. WHFT as monotherapy resulted in a significantly higher total effective rate (TER) (RR, 1.25; 95% CI, 1.15 to 1.36; I²=25%) and an improved Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) global sore (MD, -3.10; 95% CI, -4.24 to -1.95; I²=73%) compared to benzodiazepines. Additionally, WHFT as a combined therapy with benzodiazepines resulted in a significantly higher TER (RR, 1.15; 95% CI, 1.04 to 1.27; I²=0%) and an improved PSQI global score (MD, -2.23; 95% CI, -4.09 to -0.38; I²=80%) compared to benzodiazepines alone. In network analysis visualizing the components of HWFT, four clusters were discovered, and Polygoni Multiflori Ramuls and Ziziphi Spinosae Semen were the key herbs used in WHFT. Overall, the methodological quality of the included studies was poor. Conclusions: There was limited evidence that WHFT as a monotherapy or combined therapy was effective in improving insomnia. The findings can be used as basic data for future WHFT research in South Korea.