• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.238-244
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• 2015

Macrophage-derived chemokine, C-C motif chemokine 22 (MDC/CCL22), is one of the inflammatory chemokines that controls the movement of monocytes, monocyte-derived dendritic cells, and natural killer cells. Serum and skin MDC/CCL22 levels are elevated in atopic dermatitis, which suggests that the chemokines produced from keratinocytes are responsible for attracting inflammatory lymphocytes to the skin. A major signaling pathway in the interferon-${\gamma}$ (IFN-${\gamma}$)-stimulated inflammation response involves the signal transducers and activators of transcription 1 (STAT1). In the present study, we investigated the anti-inflammatory effect of dieckol and its possible action mechanisms in the category of skin inflammation including atopic dermatitis. Dieckol inhibited MDC/CCL22 production induced by IFN-${\gamma}$ (10 ng/mL) in a dose dependent manner. Dieckol (5 and $10{\mu}M$) suppressed the phosphorylation and the nuclear translocation of STAT1. These results suggest that dieckol exhibits anti-inflammatory effect via the down-regulation of STAT1 activation.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.2 no.3
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• pp.157-162
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• 2002

Purpose: The prognosis of stage IV gastric cancer is very grave. However, some of these patients survive long periods after surgery. This study was undertaken to investigate various clinico-pathological profiles related to the prognosis for these long-term survivors. Materials and Methods: One hundred fifty-five patients with stage IV gastric cancer who underwent a gastric resection from 1992 to 1997 at Hanyang University Hospital were evaluated. Thirty-three patients who survived more than 5 years after surgery were designated as long-term survivors (LTS); on the other hand, one hundred twenty-two patients who died within 5 years after surgery were named as short-term survivors (STS). Results: The rate of the patients with T4, preoperative serum level of CA19-9 greater than 37 U/g protein, and peritoneal dissemination was lower for the LTS than in for the STS (P=0.002, P=0.045, and P=0.0000, respectively). Tumors were smaller (7.3 cm vs. 8.9 cm, P=0.030) and metastatic lymph node were fewer (19.7 vs. 28.8, P=0.019) for the LTS than for the STS. Curative surgery ($\76\%\;vs.\;\46\%$, P=0.002) and a subtotal gastrectomy ($\76\%\;vs.\;46\%$, P=0.026) were performed more frequently for the LTS than for the STS. From a univariate survival analysis, depth of invasion, distant metastasis, extent of gastric resection, postoperative chemotherapy, and curability were statistically significant factors. From a multivariate survival analysis, curability, depth of invasion, and extent of gastric resection were independent prognostic factors. Conclusions: If feasible, we have to exert our efforts to achieve curative surgery although the tumor is considered to be a stage IV gastric cancer. Thereafter, multi-modality treatments including chemotherapy can be considered to improve the prognosis.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.14-23
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• 2020

This study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of Cheongawongagam on osteoporosis rat. A total of 35 rats were divided into seven groups; Normal control(SD-Nr), experimental control group(OVX-CTL), positive control group(OVX-17β-E2) and herb extracts group[Eucommia ulmoides(OVX-EU-E), Juglandis semen(OVX-JR-SE), Acanthopanax senticosus(OVX-AS-E) extract and Cheongawongagam extracts(OVX-JAEG-E)]. All control group, and herb extracts group were ovariectomized. After the 3 weeks recovery period, herb extract group were orally administered 200 mg / kg of the EU-E, JR-SE, AS-E and JAEG-E for 12 weeks. In the OVX-CTL, 17β-estradiol(E2) was administered subcutaneously on the back of the rats at a dose of 0.03 ug/sc. Their body weight, serum total cholesterol, triglyceride, aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), Leukotriene B4 (LTB4), calcium (Ca), estradiol, osteocalcin, and deoxypyridinoline (DPD) concentration were measured. Also, we investigated mRNA expression of inflammatory cytokine, MMP-2, MMP-9, and bone tissue. As a result, total cholesterol was significantly decreased in the OVX-AS-E and OVX-JAEG-E. ALP was significantly increased and osteocalcin, DPD was significantly decreased in OVX-JAEG-E. The expression of inflammatory mediators (TNF-α, IL-1β, LTB4, COX-2, NOS-2), inflammatory cytokines IL-1β and MMP-9 mRNA were significantly decreased in OVX-JAEG-E. Histologic examination of the femur showed that bone mineral density, and bone mass were increased and bone marrow were decreased in the OVX-JAEG-E group. The above experiment shows that cheongawongagam extract were effective in the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Service
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.417-421
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• 2010

The aim of this study was to determine the changes of body weight, organ weight, hematological values and biochemical parameters by testosterone (Testos) on the orchidectomized (Orch) rats. The animals were divided into 4 groups. Intact group (n=10) received no treatment and operation. Sham group (n=10) received only sham operation and no treatment. Orch group received operation and no treatment. Orch+Testos received operation and testosterone. The body weights of each group increased, but that of Orch+Testos group was significantly lower in Orch+Testos group than in all the other groups. There were significant differences (P<0.05, P<0.001) of body weights between Orch+Testos group and all the other groups. Also, organ weights such as heart, liver, spleen and kidney were measured. The heart weights were significantly lower (P<0.001) in the Orch+Testos group than in all the other groups. The liver weights in the Orch+Testos group were significantly differences in comparison with those in the Sham (P<0.001) and Orch group (P<0.05). On the other hand, there were no significantly differences in the organ weights of spleen and kidney between the Orch+Testos group and the any other groups. The hematological values of white blood cell (WBC), red blood cell (RBC), mean corpuscular volume (MCV), mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH) and mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC) were no significant differences in any other groups. The concentrations of serum total protein and albumin increased significantly (P<0.05) in the Orch+Testos group as compared to that in the Orch group. However, there were no significant differences in Ca, IP and Mg in any other groups. We conclude that testosterone was significantly decreased the body weight in the orchidectomized rats. Our findings suggest that testosterone may influence the process of lipid packaging and absorption in the orchidectomized rats.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.173-180
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• 2011

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic, recurrent inflammatory skin disease that is associated with Th2 cell-mediated allergy. The process that leads to infiltration of inflammatory cells into an AD lesion is remarkably dependent on various chemokines, especially TARC (thymus and activation-regulated chemokine/CCL17) and MDC (macrophage-derived chemokine/CCL22). Serum levels of these chemokines are over-expressed in AD patients. Citrus unshiu, which is known as Satsuma mandarin, has anti-oxidative, anti-inflammation, and anti-microviral activity. Therefore, we investigated the effect of EtOH extract of premature C. unshiu on AD. We did this using a DNCB-induced AD mouse model. We also tried to confirm an inhibitory effect for premature C. unshiu on the expression of inflammatory chemokines in IFN-${\gamma}$ and TNF-${\alpha}$ stimulated HaCaT human keratinocytes. We found that extract of premature C. unshiu reduced DNCB-induced symptoms such as hyperkeratosis, increased skin thickness, and infiltrated mast cells, in our AD-like animal model. The extract decreased levels of IFN-${\gamma}$ and IL-4 in ConA-stimulated splenocytes isolated from DNCB-treated mice. Also, extract of premature C. unshiu inhibited mRNA expression and protein production of TARC and MDC through the inhibition of STAT1 phosphorylation. These results suggest that C. unshiu has anti-atopic activity by regulating inflammatory chemokines such as TARC and MDC.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.269-277
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• 2017

Medium compositions for the hyperthermophilic archaeon, Thermococcus onnurineus NA1 was statistically optimized to enhance formate-driven hydrogen ($H_2$) production by using response surface methodology. From the Plackett-Burman design-based experiment, it was confirmed that among the minor components of medium such as KCl, $MgSO_4$, $NH_4Cl$, Cystein-HCl, trace elements, Fe-EDTA and $CaCl_2$, the trace elements were screened as the only positively effective components with respect to $H_2$ production. Subsequently, the optimal concentrations of the trace elements and the major components of a medium such as NaCl, yeast extract and sodium formate were determined from the five-level central composite design (CCD)-based experiment. The resulting quadratic model predicted the maximum $H_2$ production of 46.6 mmol/L in serum bottle and it was validated experimentally using the optimal medium initially supplemented with 26.70 g/L of NaCl, 9.81 g/L of sodium formate, 3.50 g/L of yeast extract and 4.59 mL/L of trace elements. From the duplicate batch cultivations in the fermentor using the optimized medium, the a maximum $H_2$ production rate up to 71.8 mmol/L/h could be obtained, which was a 65% enhanced value compared with that obtained using the control medium, showing the high efficiency of the optimized medium.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.42 no.3
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• pp.234-245
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• 2009

Nutritional assessment for the elderly can identify health status and morbidity. However, development of Nutritional Risk Index (NRI) remains limited for elderly because of difficulties in understanding physiological mechanism of elderly. This study was performed to analyze and develop Nutritional Risk Index for Korean elderly Women (Geriatric Nutritional Risk Index, GNRI). Based on literature review, factors for NRI were identified and indices were assessed by a cross-sectional survey. The survey involved Korean elderly women (${\geq}$60, n = 94) in Gwangju area, and sociodemographics, lifestyle characteristics, health conditions, dietary intakes based on 24h- recall, anthropometric measures (wt, ht, BMI, waist, hip, WHR, body protein, body fat, abdominal fat, and triceps skinfold thickness), and clinical biochemistry parameters (systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, triglyceride, total protein, albumin, prealbumin, hemoglobin, hematocrit, fasting blood glucose, HbAlc, ferritin, Zn, Ca, Na, K, Vit E, Vit $B_{12}$, folate, C-reactive protein) were examined relation to nutritional risk index. Based on literature review and data analyses, three NRIs were categorized (NRI I, NRI II, NRI III) and used for further analysis. NRI I was related to having metabolic syndrome, NRI II was related to serum albumin and body weight, and NRI III was related to food habit and health concerns. Abdominal fat (%) of elderly was correlated with each NRIs. NRI II was correlated with nutritional deficiency and higher tendency of inflammatory response, and NRI III was correlated with nutritional status which tend to be lower on aging (protein, folate, Vit $B_{12}$). NRI can serve as a useful tools in assessing health risk and nutritional status. Some modification of items in NRI and validity study are need to apply to Korean elderly.

• BMB Reports
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• v.38 no.5
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• pp.526-532
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• 2005

A lectin with in-vitro anticancer activity against established human cancer cell lines has been purified by affinity chromatography on asialofetuin-linked amino activated silica beads from the tubers of Arisaema tortuosum, popularly known as Himalayan Cobra lily, a monocot plant from the family Araceae. The bound Arisaema tortuosum lectin (ATL) was eluted with glycine-HCl buffer, pH 2.5. ATL was effectively inhibited by asialofetuin, a complex desialylated serum glycoprotein as well as by N-acetyl-D-lactosamine, a disaccharide. It gave a single band corresponding to a subunit molecular weight of 13.5 kDa in SDS-PAGE, pH 8.8 both under reducing and non reducing conditions. When subjected to gel-filtration on Biogel P-200, it was found to have a molecular weight of 54 kDa, suggesting a homotetramer structure, in which individual polypeptides are not bound to each other with disulfide bonds. ATL is a glycoprotein with 0.9% carbohydrate content, stable up to $55^{\circ}C$ and at pH 2 to 10. The lectin had no requirement for divalent metal ions i.e. $Ca^{2+}$ and $Mn^{2+}$ for its activity. However, as reported for other monocot lectins, ATL gave multiple bands in isoelectric focusing and Native PAGE, pH 8.3. The lectin was found to inhibit in vitro proliferation of human cancer cell lines HT29, SiHa and OVCAR-5.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.933-939
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• 2015

Malignant tumors are often accompanied by increased risk of hematological abnormalities. However, few studies have reported any prognostic impact of preoperative thrombocytosis, leukocytosis and anemia in epithelia ovarian cancer (EOC). This study aimed to investigate preoperative hematological parameters for anemia, leukocytosis and thombocytosis in relation to established prognostic factors and survival in EOC cases. A total of 816 Chinese women treated for EOC were retrospectively included in the study focusing on the relationship between preoperative hemoglobin, leukocyte and platelet counts, and a panel of clinicopathologic characteristics and outcome. Preoperative anemia was present in 13.4%, leukocytosis in 16.7% and thrombocytosis in 22.8%. Additionally, EOC patients with low differentiation grade, advanced stage, lymph node (LN) metastasis, residual disease ${\geq}1cm$, ascites volume >1,000ml, serum cancer antigen 125 (CA125) >675U/ml, and disease recurrence had the higher prevalence of preoperative anemia, leukocytosis and thrombocytosis (all p<0.05). Moreover, EOC patients with older age or postmenopausal EOC patients had the higher prevalence of thrombocytosis (28.7% vs 17.3% or 26.0% vs 17.7%). Furthermore, in a Cox proportional hazard model, thrombocytosis was an independent factor for progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) (p<0.001). Conclusively, preoperative anemia, leukocytosis or thrombocytosis in EOC patients is closely associated with more malignant disease phenotype and poorer prognosis. Significantly, thrombocytosis may independently predict the disease-specific survival for EOC patients.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.179-190
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• 1989

The experimental study for extracorporeal preservation of the heart-lung preparation by autoperfusion system was performed in 10 dogs. Under intravenous Pentothal endotracheal anesthesia bilateral thoracotomies were performed. A 24F cannula connected to a plastic reservoir bag located 100 cm above the level of the heart was introduced into the aortic arch. Left subclavian, innominate artery, and descending aorta were ligated and divided. Both vena cavae were ligated and divided after the bag was half filled with blood. A 24F catheter inserted into right atrium and connected to the plastic bag in order to keep constant the preload. The thoracic trachea was intubated and the lungs were ventilated. The heart-lung preparations were removed en bloc and floated in a $34^{\circ}C$ bath of Hartmann solution. The preparations were observed for from 2 hours to 8 hours, with the average of 5.2 hours. Hemodynamic and hematologic variables were measured during preharvest and autoperfusion. The pH revealed severe respiratory alkalosis due to very low $PaCO_2$ during autoperfusion ; $PaO_2$ remained constant for 130-140 mmHg; $A-aDO_2$ increased markedly. The static inspiratory pressure [SIP] at late autoperfusion [6hr] increased significantly as compared with at early autoperfusion [2hr]. There was no difference between white blood cell counts from right atrium and those of left atrium. Heart rates remained constant for 110-120/min; cardiac outputs maintained to approximately 0.6L/min; mean aortic pressures, 75 mmHg; mean pulmonary arterial pressures, 15-18 mmHg; mean right atrial pressures, 9-13 mmHg; mean left atrial pressures, 12 mmHg lower than those of right atrium. Serum Na maintained with normal range during autoperfusion; K increased significantly; Ca decreased progressively. Hemoglobin and hematocrit decreased significantly during autoperfusion. The study demonstrated that stable hemodynamics could be maintained throughout the experiment and the preparation of the lung seemed to be inadequate, especially after 3-4 hours, such as high $A-aDO_2$, increased SIP, and scattered atelectasis and edema in their gross appearances.