• Journal of Embryo Transfer
• /
• v.29 no.1
• /
• pp.43-50
• /
• 2014

To describe the macroscopic anatomy and ovarian-physiological difference of the genital organs of the female Korean water deer, organs from captured animals in a wild area of Korea were dissected. The ovary of estrus group was about $1.10{\pm}0.02mm$ long and weighed about $0.50{\pm}0.02g$. And pregnant group was about $1.3{\pm}0.10mm$ long and weighed about $0.40{\pm}0.05g$. And the crowns of corpora lutea were found in the estrus group, but we couldn't find crowns at the pregnant group. Especially, the estrus ovaries tended (p=0.04) to be heavier than the ovaries during pregnancy. The MMP-9 activity was higher at the Graafian follicles of pregnant group than that in estrus group. However, with regard to follicles of estrus group, MMP-2 level was higher than that in pregnant group. Furthermore, apoptosis detection marker (Casp-3) was highly expressed in Graafian follicle of the pregnant group and the corpora lutea of estrus group. Thus, the differential expression of MMPs observed in this study suggests that the reflected the mechanisms underlying of monovulatory in estrus and/or pregnancy. Our results may be very useful as it provides with information that may be considered for the development of reproductive biotechnologies in endangered animals.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
• /
• v.37 no.3
• /
• pp.463-469
• /
• 1997

This study was performed to investigate the gross anatomical features and microscopical structures of the hemal nodes and the hemolymph nodes in the water deer (Hydropotes inermis) found in Kangwon-do, Korea. The hemal nodes and hemolymph nodes were observed mainly in the periphery of the thoracic and abdominal aortae of the animals. The size of hemal nodes was generally smaller than that of the hemolymph nodes, and the shape of the both organs was spherical or ovoid. The color of the hemal nodes was red or black while that of the hemolymph nodes was gray with red bands. The hemal nodes were surrounded by a thin connective tissue capsule and there were extensive subcapsular and deep sinuses distended by a great number of erythrocytes. Although a few number of lymphatic nodules and small areas of diffuse lymphatic tissues were observed in the parenchyma, no typical cortex and medulla were defined in the hemal node. Small numbers of blood vessels were found at the connective tissue capsule but lymph vessel was not observed microscopically in this organ. The hemolymph nodes were covered by a relatively thick connective tissue capsule and there was a hilus in each node. The parenchyma was divided into cortex and medulla. The cortex was composed of a few numbers of lymphatic nodules and some diffuse lymphatic tissues. The medulla comprised medullary sinus and cords. Afferent and efferent lymph vessels were observed at the periphery of the capsule and the hilus, respectively. The subcapsular and medullary sinuses were not extensive but filled with small numbers of erythrocytes. The stroma of hemal node and hemolymph node was composed of reticular cells and fibers, and the capsule and trabecula consisted of collagenous fibers with smooth muscle fibers.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
• /
• v.23 no.2
• /
• pp.103-111
• /
• 2006

Objectives : Deer antler Water Extract(DAE), prepared from the pilose antler of Cervus korean TEMMINCK var. mantchuricus Swinhoe (Nokyong), a traditional immuno-suppressive and immuno-activating Korean herbal-acupuncture, is thought to play an important role in human bone remodeling. Methods : To determine whether DAE can induce the differentiation of resting zone chondrocytes(RC) or not, confluent cell cultures were pretreated for 24, 36, 48, 72, and 120hrs with DAE. At the end of pretreatment, the media were replaced with new media containing $10^{-10}{\sim}10^{-8}M\;1,25-(OH)_2D_3$ and the cells incubated for an additional 24hrs. Results : This second treatment was chosen because prior studies had shown that only the more mature growth zone chondrocytes(GC) respond to this vitamin $D_3$ metabolite. The effect of DAE pretreatment on cell maturation was confirmed by measuring alkaline phosphatase (ALPase)-specific activity. Changes in matrix protein synthesis were examined by measuring collagen synthesis, as well as $^{35}SO_4$ incorporation into proteoglycans. When RC cells were pretreated for 120h with DAE, treatment with $1,25-(OH)_2D_3$ caused a dose-dependent increase in ALPase-specific activity and collagen synthesis, however, the proteoglycan production was not affected. RC cells pretreated with $1,25-(OH)_2D_3$ responded like RC cells that had not received any pretreatment. Conclusion : These results indicate that DAE directly regulates the maturation of RC chondrocytes into GC chondrocytes. Therefore it was indicated that DAE may play a significant role in regulating chondrocyte maturation during endochondral ossification.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
• /
• v.27 no.4
• /
• pp.363-368
• /
• 2009

The Korean water deer (Hydropotes inermis argyropus) is an endemic species and one of the common species in Korea. The species ranges throughout the Korean peninsula and plays an important role as herbivores in natural ecosystem. Therefore, the species could be used as a good bio-indicator to monitor the quality of habitats. This study was to estimate the concentrations of five heavy metals (Fe, Cu, Zn, Cd and Pb) from three different organs (kidney, liver and spleen) in the Korean water deer. According to the analyses of heavy metal accumulations, the concentration of Fe is higher than Cu, Zn, Cd and Pb from all the organs. Among the organs, spleen (286.50) showed higher heavy metal concentrations than kidney (39.40) and liver ($23.21\;{\mu}g\;g^{-1}$). In general, the concentrations of the heavy metals were about two times higher in Cheorwon, Gangwon province than in the Eastern part of Jeonnam province. In particular, Cd and Pb showed a significant difference (P<0.05). Except for Fe in spleen, all of the heavy metal concentrations were below background levels.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
• /
• v.16 no.4
• /
• pp.443-452
• /
• 2014

Feces contain nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphate, potassium and research of the impact on the environment from feces is very diverse. However, despite the importance of mammals to environment, studies of mammals into the terrestrial ecosystems are rare. Korean water deer (Hydropotes inermis) is an endemic species of Korea and China, and we conducted on factor of plant growth in relation to feces of Korean water deer depending on land use patterns. The analysis of growth, biomass and C/N ratio of Zea mays, amount of feces and land use patterns are strongly affecting the C/N ratio and growth of the Zea mays. The quantity of the feces also influences the growth of plants instead of the land use patterns. Furthermore, the feces of Korean water deer have a lower C/N ratio than that of other animals' feces. Being the process of composting, it is able to serve a suitable fertilizer for a crop growth. In this study, we investigated the impact of feces into the environment in the terrestrial ecosystems and we were able to provide the basic data to the resources of an efficient scheme of animal feces. Further research is needed to quantify the materials amongst the plant, soil and animal, and to understand the relationship ecosystem.

• Korean journal of applied entomology
• /
• v.61 no.1
• /
• pp.239-248
• /
• 2022

Forensic entomology is a study that purposes at field reconstruction through insects attracted to carcasses, and has been mainly studied using carcasses such as a pig and chicken. Therefore, this study was conducted to find out if there is a singularity by using the carcass of water deer with different conditions and shapes of the hair quality and to find out the appearance of a necrophagous insect. The water deer carcass was received from the Jeollanam-do Wildlife Rescue Management Center and research was conducted. From May 19 2021 to July 2 2021, the decay progress of the carcass was observed for about 6 weeks. A total of 51 species of 21 families in 4 orders of insects were collected. Even after the carcass completely decays, even at the stage where the activity of other insects is not observed, insects such as Dermestidae and Tenebrionidae are collected from the hairs and leather of water deer carcass until the last. It was confirmed that insects of the order Coleoptera other than Diptera can be used as forensic entomological data related to the decay of carcasses with fur.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
• /
• v.38 no.4
• /
• pp.409-414
• /
• 2009

The aim of this study was to investigate the ameliorating effects of deer antler extract on the learning and memory impairments induced by the administration of scopolamine (2 mg/kg, i.p.) in rats. Tacrine was used as a positive control agent for evaluating the cognition enhancing activity of deer antler extract in scopolamine-induced amnesia models. The results showed that the deer antler extract-treated group (200 mg/kg, p.o.) and the tacrine-treated group (10 mg/kg, p.o.) significantly ameliorated scopolamine-induced amnesia based on the Morris water maze test. Although there was no statistical significance of brain ACh contents among the experimental groups, the brain ACh contents of the deer antler extract-treated group was slightly higher than that of the scopolamine-treated group. The inhibitory effect of deer antler extract on the acetylcholinesterase activity in the brain was significantly lower than that of scopolamine-treated group. The tacrine- and the deer antler-treated groups reduced the MAO-B activity compared to the scopolamine-treated group, but not significantly. These results suggest that the deer antler extract could be an effective agent for the prevention of the cognitive impairment induced by cholinergic dysfunction.

• Molecules and Cells
• /
• v.26 no.3
• /
• pp.314-318
• /
• 2008

Korean long-tailed goral (Nemorhaedus caudatus) is one of the most endangered species in South Korea. However, detailed species distribution and sex ratio data on the elusive goral are still lacking due to difficulty of identification of the species and sex in the field. The primary aim of this study was to develop an economical PCR-RFLP method to identify species using invasive or non-invasive samples from five Korean ungulates: goral (N. caudatus), roe deer (Capreolus pygargus), feral goat (Capra hircus), water deer (Hydropotes inermis) and musk deer (Moschus moschiferus). The secondary aim was to find more efficient molecular sexing techniques that may be applied to invasive or non-invasive samples of ungulate species. We successfully utilized PCR-RFLP of partial mitochondrial cytochrome b gene (376 bp) for species identification, and sex-specific amplification of ZFX/Y and AMELX/Y genes for sexing. Three species (goral, goat and water deer) showed distinctive band patterns by using three restriction enzymes (Xbal, Stul or Sspl). Three different sexing primer sets (LGL331/335 for ZFX/Y gene; SE47/48 or SE47/53 for AMELX/Y gene) produced sex-specific band patterns in goral, goat and roe deer. Our results suggest that the molecular analyses of non-invasive samples might provide us with potential tools for the further genetic and ecological study of Korean goral and related species.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
• /
• v.54 no.1
• /
• pp.87-91
• /
• 2016

Deer serve as reservoirs of tick-borne pathogens that impact on medical and veterinary health worldwide. In the Republic of Korea, the population of Korean water deer (KWD, Hydropotes inermis argyropus) has greatly increased from 1982 to 2011, in part, as a result of reforestation programs established following the Korean War when much of the land was barren of trees. Eighty seven Haemaphysalis flava, 228 Haemaphysalis longicornis, 8 Ixodes nipponensis, and 40 Ixodes persulcatus (21 larvae, 114 nymphs, and 228 adults) were collected from 27 out of 70 KWD. A total of 89/363 ticks (266 pools, 24.5% minimum infection rate) and 5 (1.4%) fed ticks were positive for Anaplasma phagocytophilum using nested PCR targeting the 16S rRNA and groEL genes, respectively. The 16S rRNA gene fragment sequences of 88/89 (98.9%) of positive samples for A. phagocytophilum corresponded to previously described gene sequences from KWD spleen tissues. The 16S rRNA gene fragment sequences of 20/363 (5.5%) of the ticks were positive for A. bovis and were identical to previously reported sequences. Using the ITS specific nested PCR, 11/363 (3.0%) of the ticks were positive for Bartonella spp. This is the first report of Anaplasma and Bartonella spp. detected in ticks collected from KWD, suggesting that ticks are vectors of Anaplasma and Bartonella spp. between reservoir hosts in natural surroundings.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
• /
• v.26 no.1
• /
• pp.1-9
• /
• 2012

Five mimic-animal boxing(五禽戱, FAB) is physical fitness exercises conducted by imitating the motions of tiger, deer, bear, monkey, and bird, devised by the famous doctor Hwa-Ta(華陀) in the Three Kingdoms of China. FAB is one of bionic-physical and breathing exercises(傍生導引) by combined automassage as a practice for health care. Although FAB have effects of health control and medical treatment, but interrelationship of five animals(五禽) of FAB and five viscera(五臟) of five elements(五行) is complicated. So, the present was designed to investigate the progress of FAB, movement-feature of FAB, and the interrelationship of five animals and five viscera. further I will develop value by sports-treatment medicine in oriental medicine. The results were as follows ; FAB is physical exercises of dynamic exercises and new-dynamic exercises. Feature of China-FAB have each movement by imitating the motions of each animals, movements of Formosa-FAB were mixed. In philosophical viewpoint, Five animals (tiger, deer, bear, monkey, bird) were attached to metal, wood, water, earth, fire of five elements, and lung, liver, kidney, spleen, heart of five viscera. In viewpoint of breathing exercises, Five animals (tiger, deer, bear, monkey, bird) were attached to water, wood, earth, fire, metal of five elements, and kidney, liver, spleen, heart, lung of five viscera. Although FAB have effects of health control and medical treatment, FAB have indication and contraindication. Therefore, I think that mechanism of treatment should reason with Oriental medicine doctor in FAB.