The acute and subacute toxicities of copper sulfate were evaluated in zebrafish (Brachydanio rerio). Dipping of fishes for acute toxicity was performed for a period of 24 h, and TLm24h value (median tolerance limit = LC50) was 1.36 ppm. Clubbing of gill filaments due to severe epithelial hyperplasia of gill lamella were oberved. And epithelial edema, fusion and necrosis of renal tubules were presented. The most significant change was mild epithelial hyperplasia of gill lamella in subacute toxicity test which fishes were exposed to 0.15 ppm of copper sulfate for 1 week.

Phytic acid (PA) is a naturallu occurring polyphosphorylated carbohydrate that is present in substantial amounts in almost all plants and mammalian cells. Recently PA has received much attention for its role in anticancer activity. We investigated the preventive effect of PA on the formation of colonic aberrant crypt foci (ACF), a preneoplastic lesion, induced by azoxymethane (AOM). After acclimation for one week, six-week old male ICR mice were fed on the AIN-93G purified diet and PA (0.5% or 2% PA in water) for 8 weeks. The animals were treated with azoxymethane (AOM, 10 mg/kg b.w.) three times (0, 1, and 2 weeks) to induce colonic aberrant crypt foci (ACF). After sacrifice, the total numbers of aberrant crypts (AC) and ACF in colonic mucosa were counted after staining with methylene blue. Blood and serum were analyzed with a blood cell differential counter and an automatic serum analyzer. AOM treatment without PA induced the total numbers of 85.7 ± 12.9 and 115.2 ± 19.9, respectively. PA at the dose of 2% AC/colon by PA at the dose of 0.5% were 73.4 ± 12.9 and 115.2 ± 19.9, respectively. PA at the dose of 2% significantly decreased the ACF and AC numbers to 56.5 ± 14.6 and 95.4 ± 17.2, respectively (p＜0.01). PA at the doses of 0.5 and 2% decreased the numbers of ACF and AC/colon in a dose-dependent manner. Although some parameters in blood counts and serum chemistry were changed compared with the control, no specific toxicity was found. Theses findings suggest that phytic acid can be a chemopreventive agent for colon carcinogenesis resulting from inhibition of the development of ACF in ICR mice.

Anti-inflammatory effects of ethanolic extract of Angelica gigas (EAG 50, 150, and 500 mg/kg) were investigated in thermal burn-paw edema model. Immersion of rat hind legs into 48.5℃ water for 50 scincreased the leg volume by 0.46-0.55 ml. EAG attenuated not only the paw volume in a dose-dependent manner, but also blood lymphocyte counts and interleukin-6 level increased by burns, without influence on the level of tumor-necrosis factor-α. Moreover, EAG reduced alkaline phosphatase level, a parameter of hepatic injury, which was increased by thermal burns. The results indicate that EAG attenuates inflammatory aymptoms induced by thermal burn and EAG or its conmarin derivatives could be a promising anti-inflammatory drug candidate in inflammation diseases.

Saline-tab water (2.5 L) with 0, 2.5, 5, and 10% saline solution contaminated by P. aeroginosa or S. aureus, was electrolyzed with constant electrical current of 2A or 4A for different time durations (1, 2, 4, 8, and 16min). The electrolysis with 2A-4min showed disinfection effect against P. aeroginosa of 105 CFU/㎖ in all saline concentrations. When the electrical current was raised to 4A, P. aeroginosa of 106 CFU/㎖ was disinfected in 4 min. S. aureus of 105 CFU/㎖ was disinfected with 2A-2 min in all saline concentrations. S. aureus of 106 CFU/㎖ was completely disinfected with 2A-8 min. To compare the effect of constant current electrolysis with that of intermittent current electrolysis, solution contaminated with P. aeroginosa of 106 CFU/㎖ was electrolyzed with several pairs of intermittent current of 2A for 2 min followed by 2min pause. Disinfecting effect of intermittent electrolysis was very similar to the constant current electrolysis without pause in 16 min. The present study demonstrated that the direct electrolyzing process with no septum membrane is a convenient and economic sterilization method.

This study investigated the frequency and distribution of canine patellar luxation (PL) in Bucheon city during January 2003 to December 2006. The 144 dogs with PL were analyzed according to grade, breeds, sex, age, body weight, and existence of concurrent cranial cruciate ligament rupture. Small breed including Yorkshire Terrier (31.65%), Maltese (33.09%) and Poodle (12.23%) had higher distribution of PL. Especially Yorkshire Terrier and Maltese had higher population of PL compared with other breeds. Most of them were diagnosed as II-III grade PL, and only a few dogs had grade I and grade IV PL. Small breed of body weight 2-3 kg (38.88%) had higher population of PL, and most of them were intact female (46.52%) and castrated male (38.19%) dogs. This study showed that clients recognized the necessity of the operation for dogs with PL well when the dogs are 6 months and 3 year-old, and have II-III grade PL. The reason that body weight of 2-3 kg had higher percentage of PL is related to the breeds. In analysis, intact female and castrated male dog had higher distribution of PL. The occurrence of concomitant cranial cruciate ligament rupture was 11%. Patellar luxation is therefore considered having an influence on cranial cruciate ligament rupture.

A two-month-old male calf weighing 70 kg with congenital metacarpophalangeal flexural deformity was referred to the Veterinary Medical Center of Chugbuk National University. The calf could not stand and walk normally that walked with the dorsal surface of the hoof with contraction of fetlock joint. The both forelimbs had been casted two times during 45 days before presentation. Midline of the palmar surface of the feltlock joint was incised to cut superficial flexor tendon, deep flexor tendon and interosseus muscle. Both forelimbs are healed well returned to normal function after tenotomy.

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), a predominantly pediatric disease involving uncontrolled proliferation of white blood cells within the bone marrow, is strongly associated with chromosomal translocations. The human chromosomal translocation t(12;21)(p12;q22) is the most frequently encountered chromosomal rearrangement in pediatric B-lineage ALL, and results in fusion of the TEL and RUNX1 genes. The resulting TEL/RUNX1 fusion protein is generally thought to be a transcriptional repressor that interferes with RUNX1-mediated transactivation. We used a luciferase assay system to investigate the effects of TEL/RUNX1 and PEBP2β on RUNX1-mediated transactivation. TEL/RUNX1 blocked the synergistic transactivation achieved by PEBP2β and RUNX1, and coimmunoprecipitation and immunofluorescence analyses showed that PEBP2β interacted with TEL/RUNX1 and was sequestered in the cytoplasm. Theses results suggest that TEL/RUNX1 inhibits RUNX1-mediated transactivtion via cytoplasmic sequestration of coactivator(s) such as PEBP2β.

In the present study, we have demonstrated that a novel synthetic chemical JSH-21 of N¹-Benzyl-4-methylbenzene-1,2-diamine could inhibit nitric oxide (NO) production in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-activated macrophages RAW 264.7. The JSH-21 showed an IC50 value of 9.2 uM on the LPS-induced NO production. Furthermore, JSH-21 attenuated LPS-induced mRNA and protein levels of inducible NO synthase (iNOS) in the cells, as well as inhibited LPS-induced iNOS promoter activity. These results indicates hat the compound could down-regulate iNOS expression at the transcription level. Since NF-kB activation is a key mechanism in the expression of LPS-inducible iNOS gene, we further examined whether JSH-21 could affect LPS-induced NF-kB activation. JSH-21 inhibited LPS-induced nuclear import of NF-kB p65 in macrophages RAW 264.7 and sequentially prevented NF-kB transcriptional activity. However, JSH-21 was not effective in a LPS-induced degradation of cytoplasmic IkB-alpha in the cells. These results suggest that JSH-21 could inhibit LPS-induced NF-kB activation targeting nuclear import of NF-kB, an event downstream IkB degradation. Taken together, this study may provide a pharmacological potential of JSH-21 in the NO- or NF-kB-associated inflammatory disorders.

The insecticidal potency of some essential oils have been suggested that they may find an application in the control of house dust mites. We compared the repellent effect of four essential oils ; lemon grass (Cymbopogon nardus), lavender(Lavandula vera), rosemary(Rosmarinus officinalis) and ylang ylang(Cananga odorata). The oils were exposed at different doses(0.1, 0.05, 0.025, 0.0125, and 0.00652 ㎕/㎠) and different times(1, 2, 3, 4, 5 hours) on house dust mites(Dermatophagoides farinae and D. pteronyssinus). The repellent effects(%) of essential oils that were exposed at 0.1 ㎕/㎠ and for 1 hours against house dust mites were lemon grass(63.3%) and rosemary(61%), lavender(40%), ylang ylang(40%) in the order named.

This study was carried out to evaluate the genotoxicity of the gamma-irradiated (0, 5 and 10 kGy) milk and ice cream. The Salmonella typhimurium reversion assay was performed using S. typhimurium TA98, TA100, TA102, TA1535 and TA1537 as tester strains. The number of revertant colonies were not increased in both milk and ice cream, compared with negative controls with or without metabolic activation. There were no significant differences among the irradiation doses. These results indicate that the gamma-irradiated milk and ice cream do not show any genotoxic effect under these experimental conditions, and that they may be safe genotoxically.

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) was a main substance as an endothelial cell specific mitogen. This acts sometimes as an antiapoptotic factor. It plays an important role in the embryo development as well as implantation process. This review introducesthe function and distribution of the VEGF and its receptors related to the development of mammal embryos.