• Environmental Mutagens and Carcinogens
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.164-168
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• 2002

Phthalate analogues are a plasticizer and solvent used in industry and were reported to be a potential carcinogen classified in the category of suspected endocrine disruptors. Most common human exposure to these compounds may occur with contaminated food. They may migrate into food from plastic wrap or may enter food from general environmental contamination. Since these substances are not limited to the original products, and enter the environment, they have become widespread environmental pollutants, thus leading to a variety of phthalates that possibly threaten the public health. To determine whether seven phthalate analogues i.e. diallyl phthalate, diisodecyl phthalate, di-n-nonyl phthalate, butyl benzyl phthalate, di-n-octyl phthalate, di-tridecyl phthalate, and dibutyl phthalate, can induce DNA strand breakage that is one of the various factors related to the mechanism of carcinogenicity, the comet assay which has been widely used for the detection and measurement of DNA strand breaks, was conducted in L5178Y mouse lymphoma cells. From these results, seven phthalates revealed dose-dependent decrease of cell viability, however, no remarkable cytotoxicity was observed even at high concentration of 100 $\mu\textrm{g}$/$m\ell$ phthalates. And also, the results showed that the induction of DNA strand breaks by seven phthalates was not significantly different from the control in this study.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.1219-1225
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• 2007

Immunological activities of Ginseng Radix water extract (GE) were compared with theirs of Insamhodo-tang water extract (IHT). GE and IHT (500 mg/kg) were administered p.o. twice a day for 5 days to C57BL/6 mice, respectively. IHT decreased the cell viability of murine thymocytes and splenocytes, but increased the population of $CD4^+$ cells in thymocytes, and the population of $Thy1^+$ cells and $CD4^+$ cells in splenocytes in contrast to GE. In addition, IHT decreased the phagocytic activity of peritoneal macrophages, but increased the production of nitric oxide from peritoneal macrophages in contrast to GE. These results suggest that IHT decrease a specific- and nonspecific immune reaction in comparison with GE.

• Natural Product Sciences
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.182-186
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• 2008

Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi (SBG) is traditionally used medicinal herb that has anti-oxidant, anticancer and anti-inflammatory effects. In this study, we investigated whether the extracts of SBG have the inhibitory activity in the osteoclast differentiation by using mouse monocytes RAW264.7 cells and primary mouse bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMMs). Methanol extract (ME) from SBG was successively fractionated into methylene chloride (MF), ethylacetate (EF) and n-butanol fraction (BF). The activity assay for tartrateresistant acid phosphatase (TRAP) and Western blot analysis were employed to evaluate the osteoclasts differentiation and the activation of mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinases, respectively. ME, MF, EF and BF significantly and dose-dependently inhibited osteoclast differentiation without the decrease of cell viability at the concentrations used in this study. In addition, ME significantly inhibited the activation of c-jun-N-terminal kinase (JNK). In conclusion, this study firstly demonstrated that ME of SBG has the potential to inhibit the osteoclast differentiation through the suppression of JNK activation partially.

• Natural Product Sciences
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.127-136
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• 2013

Ionizing radiation, including that evoked by gamma (${\gamma}$)-rays, induces oxidative stress through the generation of reactive oxygen species, resulting in apoptosis, or programmed cell death. This study aimed to elucidate the radioprotective effects of hyperoside (quercetin-3-O-galactoside) against ${\gamma}$-ray radiation-induced apoptosis in Chinese hamster lung fibroblasts, V79-4 and demonstrated that the compound reduced levels of intracellular reactive oxygen species in ${\gamma}$-ray-irradiated cells. Hyperoside also protected irradiated cells against DNA damage (evidenced by pronounced DNA tails and elevated phospho-histone H2AX and 8-oxoguanine content) and membrane lipid peroxidation. Furthermore, hyperoside prevented the ${\gamma}$-ray-provoked reduction in cell viability via the inhibition of apoptosis through the increased levels of Bcl-2, the decreased levels of Bax and cytosolic cytochrome c, and the decrease of the active caspase 9 and caspase 3 expression. Taken together, these results suggest that hyperoside defend cells against ${\gamma}$-ray radiation-induced apoptosis by inhibiting oxidative stress.

• BMB Reports
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.85-90
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• 2012

Our previous study demonstrated that CopA3, a disulfide dimer of the coprisin peptide analogue (LLCIALRKK), has antibacterial activity. In this study, we assessed whether CopA3 caused cellular toxicity in various mammalian cell lines. CopA3 selectively caused a marked decrease in cell viability in Jurkat T, U937, and AML-2 cells (human leukemia cells), but was not cytotoxic to Caki or Hela cells. Fragmentation of DNA, a marker of apoptosis, was also confirmed in the leukemia cell lines, but not in the other cells. CopA3-induced apoptosis in leukemia cells was mediated by apoptosis inducing factor (AIF), indicating induction of a caspase-independent signaling pathway.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.409-419
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• 2005

The water extract of Boyanghwanoh-tang has been used for treatment of ischemic vascular disease in oriental medicine. However, little is known about the mechanism by which the water extract of Boyanghwanoh-tang rescues cells from these damages. Therefore, this study was designed to evaluate the protective effects of Boyanghwanoh-tang on zinc-mediated cytotoxicity in H9c2 cardiomyoblast cells. This study demonstrates that, after treatment of H9c2 cells with zinc, there was a decrease in cell viability in a dose dependent manner, and there was a chromatin condensation. Zinc induced the change of cell morphology. In addition, zinc induced mitochondrial dysfunction. Zinc-induced H9c2 cell death was remarkably prevented by the pretreatment of Boyanghwanoh-tang consistently with increase of the peroxoredoxin 1, 2, 3, 5, and 6 expression. Taken together, the results suggest that zinc induced severe cell death in H9c2 cardiomyoblast cells, and that protective effects of Boyanghwanoh-tang against oxidative injuries are achieved through regulation of peroxiredoin expression.

• Journal of Society of Preventive Korean Medicine
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.71-80
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• 2012

Objective : The aim of this study is to evaluate anti-cancer effects of $Ampelopsisradix$ Extract (AE) on human lung cancer A549 cells. Method : The apoptotic activities and cell growth arrest activities of AE were measured using 3-[4,5-dimethyl-thiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. The molecules involved in apoptotic process were assessed by western blotting. Result : Treatment of AE potently reduced cell viability in a dose-dependent manner in A549 cells. AE (100-500 ${\mu}g/m{\ell}$) resulted in apoptosis via activation of caspase 9 following PARP cleavage in a time-and dose-dependent manner. The levels of Bax and Bad levels were increased by AE with a concomitant decrease of Bcl-xL. In addition, AE at the low dose (30 ${\mu}g/m{\ell}$) significantly inhibited cell growth in the presence of serum. Conclusion : AE has the potential as a therapeutic agent against lung cancer.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.7-12
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• 2005

GyeongshinhaeGihwan T1 (GGT1) is a newly developed oriental medicine to help weight control. We investigated nitric oxide production and cytokine secretion in mouse peritoneal macrophages. According to recent reports, macrophages are participated in fat accumulation and closely related with obesity. In this study, using mouse peritoneal macrophages, we have examined whether GGT1 affects the production of nitric oxide (NO), tumor necrosis factor-${\alpha}$ (TNF-${\alpha}$), and interleukin (IL)-12 by the stimulation of interferon-${\gamma}$ and lipopolysaccharide (LPS). GGT1 inhibits LPS-induced NO production in a dose-dependent manner. The decrease in NO synthesis was reflected as a decreased amount of inducible NO synthese protein. We also found that GGT1 inhibits pro-inflammatory cytokines, TNF-${\alpha}$ and IL-12 production. In mouse embryo preadipocyte 3T3-L1, GGT1 reduced the viability in a dose-dependent manner. These findings suggest that GGT1 may have potential effects in preventing and controlling adipogenesis and obesity.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.326-328
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• 2001

Pseudomonas diminuta (ATCC 19146) has been typically used in the bacterial challenge test for validation of the sterilizing filtration process. Cell size is critical for determining the retention characteristics of membrane filters with pore-size of $0.2{\mu}m$. The changes of cell sizes after osmotic shocks at 150, 260, 500, and 700 mosM were measured by a particle size analyzer and the changes of their buoyant densities were analyzed with a Percoll gradient. The results indicated that there were no significant differences when cells were cultured in 260 mosM medium and osmotically shocked at 500 and 700 mosM. However, the osmotically shocked cells at 150 mosM showed a 38% increase of the cell size compared to the cells at 260 mosM. From these study, we concluded that the worst case condition for validation of a sterilizing filter would be 500 mosM, not because of changes in the cell size, but due to decrease in cell viability under those conditions.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.55-59
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• 1998

To study the effect of induced hypothyroidism on fertility status of male Black Bengal goats, 10 adult healthy mature males were divided into control and treated groups. Hypothyroidism was induced successfully by injecting thiourea subcutaneously initially for 15 days at the rate of 100 mg/kg body weight, followed by 66.7 mg/kg body weight for the subse quent 15 days. This resulted in a decrease (p < 0.01) in plasma tri-iodothyronine, thyroxine and testosterone levels, with increasing duration of thiourea treatment. It also adversely affected semen quality, ejaculate volume, sperm concentration, motility and viability. Live percentage declined to 75% for treated and control remained at 90%. Artificial insemination fo female goats with semen of thiourea-treated goats, resulted in failure of conception. However, females inseminated with semen of male goats of control group showed 100% conception. These observations indicate that, thyroid hormones play a key role in maintaining the normal reproductive processes of male goats.