• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.37 no.6
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• pp.393-401
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• 2003

Objective: Pullulan derivatives (PD) can be used to make self-assembled hydrogel nanoparticles which are responsive to ionic strength. The aim of this study is to evaluate the potential of PD as a retaining carrier of radioisotope inside tumors. Materials and Methods: Four types of PD were evaluated which included pullulan acetate (PA), succinylated PA (SPA), PA-DTPA and SPA-DTPA conjugates. They were radiolabeled with Tc-99m. Labelling efficiencies were determined at 30 min, 1, 2, 4 and 12 hours after radiolabeling. CT-25 colon cancer cells were subcutaneously injected into Balb/c mice. After 2 weeks of subcutaneous injection, Tc-99m-labelled PD (Tc-99m-PD) were injected into the tumors. Whole body images of mice were obtained at 30 min, 1, 2, and 12 hr after intratumoral injection. All twenty mice were grouped into four groups by largest diameter; control A (largest diameter = 5 mm, n = 5), control B (largest diameter = 10 mm, n = 5), pullulan A (largest diameter = 5 mm, n = 5), pllulan B (largest diameter = 10 mm, n = 5). Dynamic images were obtained for 1 hour after intratumoral injection. Static images were obtained at 1 hr, 2 hr, 3 hr and 4 hr after intratumoral injection with Tc-99m pertechnetate and Tc-99m-PA. Target-to-background ratios and retention rates were calculated. Results: Labeling efficiencies of PA, SPA, PA-DTPA and SPA-DTPA were $94.5{\pm}5.9%,\;97.8{\pm}3.5%\;94.2{\pm}3.8%,\;and\;92.5{\pm}6.2%$, respectively (p>0.05). Percent retention rates (%RR) of PA and PA-DTPA were significantly higher than those of control, however, those of SP-DTPA and SPA became similar to control at 4 and 12 hr, respectively. %RR of pullulan A and pullulan B at 1, 4 and 8 hr is significantly higher than that of control (p < 0.05). However, %RR between pullulan A and pullulan B were similar. Conclusion: The lonic strength dependent PD-nanoparticles are retained in the tumor. No difference of %RR according to tumor size was noted. Therapeutic application of PD labelled with beta- or alpha- emitting radionuclides can be expected.

• Childhood Kidney Diseases
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.49-55
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• 2009

Purpose : We aimed to compare the frequency of positive repeat urine cultures 48 hours after antimicrobial treatment between anatomically normal and abnormal urinary tract Infection (UTI) groups to determine the potential clinical usefulness of the tests. Methods : We reviewed medical records of 930 patients under age 14, who had been admitted for UTI at Gyeongsang National University Hospital from January 1, 1998 to August 1, 2008. The eligible patients were divided into two groups the anatomically normal UTI group and the anatomically abnormal UTI group. Statistical analyses were performed with variables consisting of the sex ratio, age distribution and the frequency of positive repeat urine cultures of each group. Results : The sex ratio of the anatomically normal UTI group was M:F=1.9:1, whereas that of the anatomically abnormal UTI group was M:F=3.5:1 (P=0.019). For age distribution, it was found that the mean age of the anatomically normal UTI group was $0.82{\pm}1.83$ years, whereas that of the anatomically abnormal UTI group was $1.18{\pm}2.57$ years (P=0.113). The frequency of positive repeat urine cultures in the anatomically normal UTI group was 3/279 (1.1%), whereas that of the anatomically abnormal UTI group was 1/90 (1.1%) (P=0.675). Conclusion : We conclude that performing a repeat urine culture is not justified in terms of clinical usefulness, and it is unreasonable to use the results as an index of therapeutic success. A follow-up urine culture is unnecessary in patients with both the anatomically normal and abnormal UTI group.

• Development and Reproduction
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.87-95
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• 2008

Neural stem/precursor derived from pluripotent human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) has considerable therapeutic potential due to their ability to generate various neural cells which can be used in cell-replacement therapies for neurodegenerative diseases. However, production of neural cells from hESCs remains technically very difficult. Understanding neural-tube like rosette characteristic neural precursor cells from hESCs may provide useful information to increase the efficiency of hESC neural differentiation. Generally, neural rosettes were derived from differentiating hEBs in attached culture system, however this is time-consuming and complicated. Here, we examined if neural rosettes could be formed in suspension culture system by bypassing attachment requirement. First, we tested whether the size of hESC clumps affected the formation of human embryonic bodies (hEBs) and neural differentiation. We confirmed that hEBs derived from $500{\times}500\;{\mu}m$ square sized hESC clumps were effectively differentiated into neural lineage than those of the other sizes. To induce the rosette formation, regular size hEBs were derived by incubation of hESC clumps($500{\times}500\;{\mu}m$) in EB medium for 1 wk in a suspended condition on low attachment culture dish and further incubated for additional $1{\sim}2$ wks in neuroectodermal sphere(NES)-culture medium. We observed the neural tube-like rosette structure from hEBs after $7{\sim}10$ days of differentiation. Their identity as a neural precursor cells was assessed by measuring their expressions of neural precursor markers(Vimentin, Nestin, MSI1, MSI2, Prominin-1, Pax6, Sox1, N-cadherin, Otx2, and Tuj1) by RT-PCR and immunofluorescence staining. We also confirmed that neural rosettes could be terminally differentiated into mature neural cell types by additional incubation for $2{\sim}6$ wks with NES medium without growth factors. Neuronal(Tuj1, MAP2, GABA) and glial($S100{\beta}$ and GFAP) markers were highly expressed after $2{\sim}3$ and 4 wks of incubation, respectively. Expression of oligodendrocyte markers O1 and CNPase was significantly increased after $5{\sim}6$ wks of incubation. Our results demonstrate that rosette forming neural precursor cells could be successfully derived from suspension culture system and that will not only help us understand the neural differentiation process of hESCs but also simplify the derivation process of neural precursors from hESCs.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.377-382
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• 2009

Viral safety is an important prerequisite for clinical preparations of all biopharmaceuticals derived from plasma, cell lines, or tissues of human or animal origin. To ensure the safety, implementation of multiple viral clearance (inactivation and/or removal) steps has been highly recommended for manufacturing of biopharmaceuticals. Of the possible viral clearance strategies, Ultraviolet-C (UVC) irradiation has been known as an effective viral inactivating method. However it has been dismissed by biopharmaceutical industry as a result of the potential for protein damage and the difficulty in delivering uniform doses. Recently a continuous flow UVC reactor (UVivatec) was developed to provide highly efficient mixing and maximize virus exposure to the UV light. In order to investigate the effectiveness of UVivatec to inactivate viruses without causing significant protein damage, the feasibility of the UVC irradiation process was studied with a commercial therapeutic protein. Recovery yield in the optimized condition of $3,000\;J/m^2$ irradiation was more than 98%. The efficacy and robustness of the UVC reactor was evaluated with regard to the inactivation of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis A virus (HAV), bovine herpes virus (BHV), bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV), porcine parvovirus (PPV), bovine parvovirus (BPV), minute virus of mice (MVM), reovirus type 3 (REO), and bovine parainfluenza virus type 3 (BPIV). Non enveloped viruses (HAV, PPV, BPV, MVM, and REO) were completely inactivated to undetectable levels by $3,000\;J/m^2$ irradiation. Enveloped viruses such as HIV, BVDV, and BPIV were completely inactivated to undetectable levels. However BHV was incompletely inactivated with slight residual infectivity remaining even after $3,000\;J/m^2$ irradiation. The log reduction factors achieved by UVC irradiation were ${\geq}3.89$ for HIV, ${\geq}5.27$ for HAV, 5.29 for BHV, ${\geq}5.96$ for BVDV, ${\geq}4.37$ for PPV, ${\geq}3.55$ for BPV, ${\geq}3.51$ for MVM, ${\geq}4.20$ for REO, and ${\geq}4.15$ for BPIV. These results indicate that UVC irradiation using UVivatec was very effective and robust in inactivating all the viruses tested.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.49 no.1
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• pp.15-20
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• 2006

EDTA is known to have bacteriocidal effect on Vibrio vulnificus, pathogen of septicemia by osmotic shock in seafoods. Attempts were made to elucidate the bacteriocidal effect of phytic acid (PA) as a substitute for EDTA against V. vulnificus and its inhibition effect on the septicemia, which induces liver damage of the mice by the pathogen. Viable cells of V. vulnificus with the initial titre of $1.7{\times}10^6$ c.f.u. $ml^{-1}$ decreased by 90.6% after 1 min and 99.6% after 5 min in distilled water. The titre decreased by 65.9% and 94.5% in 2 mM solution of $Mg^{2+}$. In 0.1 mM solution of PA, the rate of decrease in titre was 97.4% after 1 min of incubation and 99.8% after 5 min, compared to 95.7% and 99.8% in 0.1 mM solution of EDTA. The bacteriocidal effect of PA solution at a concentration of 1 mM was marked: the rate of decrease in titre was 99.9% after 1 min. In relation to the bacteriocidal effect, PA was evaluated as a potential therapeutic agent for V. vulnificus septicemia in mouse. When the survival periods of mice were investigated by PA and EDTA treatment after the pathogen injection, the group of mice which infected by a low concentration of the strain survived longer than that inoculated at high concentration; also, the ratio of survival was 1.3 times higher in PA than in EDTA, showing that the fatal rate depended on the inoculation concentration. Although survival periods of mice induced with liver damage by carbon tetrachloride and then inoculated with the strain showed a similar trend, the fatal rate of mice was 2 times faster than those inoculated with only pathogen into normal liver, These results indicate that the infection by V. vulnificus was more fatal to those with liver disease. Also, symptoms of hemorrhage and inflammation on the mice with induced liver damage were reduced in case there was phytic acid treatment at each concentration.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.54 no.4
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• pp.279-283
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• 2011

Toll-like receptors (TLRs) play an important role in induction of innate immune responses. The activation of TLRs triggers inflammatory responses that are essential for host defense against invading pathogens. Phenethyl isothiocyanate (PEITC) extracted from cruciferous vegetables has an effect on anti-inflammatory therapy. Dysregulated activation of nuclear factor-${\kappa}$B (NF-${\kappa}$B), inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) has been shown to play important roles in the development of certain inflammatory disease. To evaluate the therapeutic potential of PEITC, NF-${\kappa}$B activation and COX-2 and iNOS expression induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS, TLR4 agonist), polyinosinic-polycytidylic acid (Poly[I:C], TLR3 agonist), 2 kDa macrophageactivating lipopeptide (MALP-2, TLR2 and TLR6 agonist) or oligodeoxynucleotide 1668 (ODN1668, TLR9 agonist) were examined. PEITC inhibits the activation of NF-${\kappa}$B induced by LPS or Poly[I:C] but not by MALP-2 or ODN1668. PEITC also suppressed the iNOS expression induced by LPS or Poly[I:C]. However, PEITC did not suppress COX-2 expression induced by LPS, Poly[I:C], MALP-2, or ODN1668. These results suggest that PEITC has the specific mechanism for antiinflammatory responses.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.52 no.2
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• pp.181-186
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• 2009

Purpose : Inflammation plays a potential role in the pathogenesis of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD). Strategies for preventing BPD include respiratory management, antioxidants, nutritional treatment, and others such as anti-inflammatory agents. We aimed to assess the safety, tolerability, and efficacy of montelukast (MK), a cysteinyl leukotriene 1 receptor antagonist, as an add-on therapy in BPD. Methods : In addition to currently available standard measures such as oxygen supplementation, bronchodilators, nutritional support, and/or diuretics, montelukast was administered to 15 preterm infants with BPD. MK was given orally (1 mg/kg/d) for a mean period of 12 weeks. We compared safety and efficacy parameters with historical controls. Results : All 15 patients survived, and no differences were found in the incidence of adverse reactions between the 2 groups. The ventilation index was significantly improved after 2 weeks in MK group compared with historical controls. There were no significant differences in other respiratory parameters (MAP, oxygen dependency, and ventilator dependency) between the groups, but the MK group showed trends of greater improvement. Conclusion : Administration of MK 1 mg/kg/d was well tolerated in preterm BPD patients as an add-on therapy. We demonstrated that after 2 weeks of MK administration of 1 mg/kg/d, MK had beneficial therapeutic effects on BPD patients as an add-on to the standard therapy. Further multicenter randomized controlled clinical trials are needed to confirm the efficacy and safety of MK as a useful supplement to standard therapy for BPD patients.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.29-39
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• 2003

Neurodegenerative disorders are associated with apoptosis as a causing factor or an inducer. On the other hand, it has been reported that epigallocatechin gallate (EUG), one of antioxidants and flavonoids, and z-VAD-fmk, a nonselective caspase inhibitor, suppress oxidative-radical-stress-induced apoptosis. However, it is not yet known what is the effects of EGCG and z-VAD-fmk on the apoptotic pathway is through phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K), Akt and glycogen synthase kinase-3 (GSK-3) as well as mitochondria, caspase-3 and poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP). We investigated the effects of EGCG by using $H_2O_2$ treated N18D3 cells, mouse DRG hybrid neurons. Methods: Following 30 min $100\;{\mu}m\;H_2O_2$ exposure, the viability of N18D3 cells (not pretreated vs. EGCG or z-VAD-fmk pretreated) was evaluated by using MTT assay. The effect of EGCG on immunoreactivity (IR) of cytochrome c, caspase-3, PARP, PI3K/Akt and GSK-3 was examined by using Western blot, and was compared with that of z-Y4D-fmk. Results: EGCG or z-VAD-fmk pretreated N18D3 cells showed increased viability. Dose-dependent inhibition of caspase-3 activation accompanied by PARP cleavage were demonstrated by pretreatment of both agents. However, inhibition of cytochrome c release was only detected in EGCG pretreated N18D3 cells. On the pathway through PI3K/Akt and GSK-3, however, the result of Western blot in EGCG pretreated N18D3 cells showed decreased IR of Akt and GSK-3 and increased IR of p85a PI3K, phosphorylated Akt and GSK-3, and contrasted with that in z-VAD-fmk pretreated N18D3 cells showing no changes on each molecule. Conclusion: These data show that EGCG affects apoptotic pathway through upstream signal including PI3K/Akt and GSK-3 pathway as well as downstream signal including cytochrome c and caspase-3 pathway. Therefore, these results suggest that EGCG mediated activation of PI3K/Akt and inhibition GSK-B could be new potential therapeutic strategy for neurodegenerative diseases associated with oxidative injury.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.41 no.12
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• pp.1708-1715
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• 2012

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether water extracts of Sparassis crispa (SC) have anti-obesity effects. Treatment of mature adipocytes with SC caused a decrease in lipid accumulation (assessed by Oil Red O staining) and an increase in glycerol release. Mice were induced to obesity by a high fat diet (45% fat in total kcal) and experimental groups were treated with two different dosages of SC extracts, a low SC (LSC, 100 mg/kg/day) or high SC (HSC, 300 mg/kg/day). SC extracts were administered by gavages for 10 weeks in the experimental groups, while the control group was fed with distilled water. The body weight gain of mice fed SC was significantly reduced (11.88% lower in LSC, 14.54% lower in HSC) compared to the control group. Additionally, there were significantly reduced serum levels of triglycerides (13.57% lower in LSC, 19.46% lower in HSC), total cholesterol (32.22% lower in LSC, 24.67% lower in HSC) and glucose (28.85% lower in LSC, 25.82% lower in HSC) in mice fed SC compared to the control group. Hepatic triglycerides in mice fed SC were lower (9.68% lower in LSC, 14.24% lower in HSC) than the control group and total cholesterol levels were also lower in mice fed SC (38.72% lower in LSC, 35.20% in HSC). These results demonstrate that the water extract of SC may enhance lipolysis and up-regulate the expression of lipolytic enzymes in vitro and reduce body weight in vivo. These significant effects were found for both low and high doses of SC treatment, and suggest SC can be used as potential therapeutic substances for the prevention and treatment of obesity.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.324-330
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• 2015

In this study, the anti-diabetic activity of a cold water extract of Korean mistletoe (KME) was investigated in C57BL/6J Lep ob (ob/ob) mice. Oral administration of KME (50 or 100 mg/kg/d) significantly inhibited the level of blood glucose of ob/ob mice after 5 days from the beginning of KME treatment. And the anti-diabetic effect of KME was stabilized 10 days after oral administration, showing a substantial reduction of blood glucose levels by more than 20% as compared with control mice. The results of oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) revealed that oral administration of KME gave rise to a remarkable improvement in overall glucose response. Oral administration of KME in ob/ob diabetic mice also significantly reduced blood total cholesterol (TCHO) and triglyceride (TG) levels compared with the diabetic control mice. Moreover, in an in vitro experiment using C2C12 myotubes, treatment of KME prominently increased glucose uptake. Interestingly, KME significantly increased the expression of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator 1-${\alpha}$ ($PGC-1{\alpha}$), a head regulator of mitochondrial biogenesis and oxidative metabolism, and $PGC-1{\alpha}$-associated genes such as glucose transporter type 4 (GLUT4), estrogen-related receptor-${\alpha}$ ($ERR-{\alpha}$), nuclear respiratory factor-1 (NRF-1), and mitochondrial transcription factor A (TmfA) in C2C12 cells. These results suggest that KME has potential as a novel therapeutic agent for diabetes, and its anti-diabetic activity may be related to the regulation of mitochondrial biogenesis.