The six polysaccharide fractions were prepared by chromatographic procedure from the hot water extractsof the aboveground parts of Astragalus membranaceus. These six polysaccharides from aboveground parts of Astragalusmembranaceus Bunge were tested for gut-mucosal immune activity and acute toxicity. In a view of molecular weight, the sixfractions were estimated to be 75000, 88000, 129000 and 345000 Da, respectively. Component sugar analysis indicated thatthese fractions were mainly consisted of galactose (46.3~11.8%) and arabinose (35.4~9.9%) in addition to glucose,rhamnose, fucose, arabinose, xylose, mannose, glucuronic acid and galacturonic acid. Among the six major purifiedpolysaccharides, AMA-1-b-PS2 showed highest bone merrow cell proliferation and lymphocyte of Peyer's patch stimulatingactivity. It may be concluded that intestinal immune system modulating activity of aboveground parts from Astragalusmembranaceus Bunge is caused by polysaccharides having a polygalacturonan moiety with neutral sugars such as arabinoseand galactose. In single oral dose toxicity study, no differences were observed between control and treated groups in clinicalsigns. The results indicated that lethal dose 50 (LD50) of water extracts from Astragalus membranaceus-aboveground partswas found to be higher than 5000㎎/㎏/day in this experiment. From the above results, we may suggest that Astragalusmembranaceus-aboveground parts might have useful as a safe material for functional food and pharmaceutics.

Spilled oil into marine environments are known to induce disturbance not only hepatodetoxification system but also immune function in fish. However, toxic mechanisms on immune system and complex toxicity of crude oil have not been fully investigated. Innate immune response considered on the attractive effect-based monitoring tools due to their capacities to predict population disturbances by modification of disease susceptibility. In the study, to clarify the toxic effects of Hebei sprit spilled crude oil on fish immune system, multiple hepatodetoxific enzymes (Cytochrome P4501A and GST) and cytokines such as Interleukin-1beta (IL-1β), granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) were evaluated in juvenile Rockfish fed individually the gelatin-capsulated Iranian Heavy Crude Oil (IHCO). At 12 h after treatment, the oil-fed groups were shown higher concentrations of biliary 1-OH pyrene fluorescence metabolite and CYP1A expression than the control group. Cat. L and G-CSF mRNA also increased significantly at initial stage of exposure (from 12 h to 48 h after exposure) but decreased to the level of control group or less. 72 h post-oil injection, fish were intraperitoneallyadministered an LD50 dose of Streptococcus iniae (FP.5228; Korea Fish Diseases Information Center). Host survival was monitored for 7 days and cumulative mortality rate was calculated. Host mortality rate was increased significantly in oil exposure group compared to sham group.

Endosulfan is an organochlorine pesticide that is widely used throughout the world for higher agricultural production. Its extreme toxicity, however, has caused health and environment concerns that have led to an interest in detoxification. In this study, the radiolytic degradation of endosulfan was investigated. Endosulfan in methanol solution (100 ppm) was irradiated at 0, 10, 30, and 50 kGy, and subsequent changes in immune toxicity and degradation of endosulfan were observed. The concentration of endosulfan that was used in this experiment did not affect the cell proliferation. The irradiation of endosulfan decreased the production of NO, indicating a decrease in the immune toxicity of endosulfan by irradiation. The concentration of endosulfan was significantly reduced by irradiation in a dose-dependent manner. The results suggest that gamma irradiation can degrade endosulfan and can reduce its immune toxicity.