Determination of Maintenance Energy Requirements for Fattening Castrated Korean Black Goats (Capra hircus coreanae).

Twelve adult (10 months old) castrated Korean black goats, with an average initial body weight of 24.98 ± 3.7 kg, were used in this experiment to determine their maintenance energy requirements. Dry matter intakes (g/d, p = 0.945) were not affected by energy levels, but metabolic energy intake (kcal/d, p < 0.002) and average daily gain (g/d, p < 0.001) were significantly increased at higher energy levels. Nutrient digestibility was similar in the treatments, but crude fat digestibility increased with the addition of protective fat powder (p = 0.001). The energy required for fattening the castrated Korean black goats was estimated using the correlation between metabolic energy intake per dietary body weight and average daily gain per dietary body weight. The Y-axis intercept value was calculated to be 108.76 kcal/kg BW0.75 (p < 0.05, r2 = 0.6036), which was the metabolic energy requirement for maintaining the lives of the fattening Korean black goats. The estimated energy requirements of the black goat can improve specification techniques, such as the energy level and the amount of feed supply required for domestic black goats.

Effect of Paecilomyces tenuipes Extract on Testosterone-Induced Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia in Sprague-Dawley Rats.

: Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is one of the major public health concerns, which has a high prevalence rate and causes significant decline in men's quality of life. BPH is highly related to sexual hormone metabolism and aging. In particular, dihydrotestosterone (DHT), to which testosterone is modified by 5α-reductase (5AR), has a significant effect on BPH development. DHT binds to an androgen receptor (AR) and steroid receptor coactivator 1 (SRC-1); then, it induces the proliferation of a prostate cell and expression of prostate specific antigen (PSA). Paecilomyces tenuipes (P. tenuipes) is a mushroom that has been popularized by the artificial cultivation of fruiting bodies based on silkworms by researchers from the Republic of Korea. In a previous study, we identified the effect of PE on PSA mRNA expression in LNCaP cells. This suggests that PE may have an inhibitory effect on androgen signaling. Therefore, we confirmed the expression of androgen signaling-related factors, such as AR, SRC-1, and PSA in LNCaP. Furthermore, we confirmed the androgen signaling inhibitory effect of PE using the testosterone propionate (TP)-induced BPH rat model. A BPH rat model was established with a four-week treatment of daily subcutaneous injections of testosterone propionate (TP, 3 mg/kg) dissolved in corn oil after castration. The rats in the treatment group were orally gavaged P. tenuipes extract (PE), finasteride (Fi), or saw palmetto extract (Saw) with TP injection. DHT induced an increase in the expression levels of AR, SRC-1, and PSA proteins in LNCaP cells. On the contrary, the PE treatment reduced the expression levels. In vivo, the BPH group showed an increase in prostate size compared with the control group. The PE gavaged group showed a decrease in prostate size compared with the BPH group. In addition, the protein expressions of AR, 5AR2, and PSA were significantly lower in the PE gavaged group than BPH group in prostate tissue. These results suggest the beneficial effects of PE on BPH via the modulation of AR signaling pathway.

Dose-dependent effects of busulfan on dog testes in preparation for spermatogonial stem cell transplantation.

Successful male germ cell transplantation requires depletion of the host germ cells to allow efficient colonization of the donor spermatogonial stem cells. Although a sterilizing drug, busulfan, is commonly used for the preparation of recipient models before transplantation, the optimal dose of this drug has not yet been defined in dogs. In this study, 1-year-old mongrel dogs were intravenously injected with three different concentrations of busulfan (10, 15, or 17.5 mg/kg). Four weeks after busulfan treatment, no fully matured spermatozoa were detected in any of the busulfan-treated groups. However, small numbers of PGP9.5-positive spermatogonia were detected in all treatment groups, although no synaptonemal complex protein-3-positive spermatocytes were detected. Of note, acrosin-positive spermatids were not detected in the dogs treated with 15 or 17.5 mg/kg busulfan, but were detected in the other group. Eight weeks after busulfan treatment, the dogs treated with 10 mg/kg busulfan fully recovered, but those in the other groups did not. PGP9.5-positive spermatogonia were detected in the 10 mg/kg group, and at a similar level as in the control group, but these cells were rarely detected in the 15 and 17.5 mg/kg groups. These results suggest that a dose of 15-17.5 mg/kg is optimal for ablative treatment with busulfan to prepare the recipient dogs for male germ cell transplantation. At least eight weeks should be allowed for recovery. The results of this study might facilitate the production of recipient dogs for male germ cell transplantation and can also contribute to studies on chemotherapy.

Protective Effect of Taurine on Mice with Doxorubicin-induced Acute Kidney Injury.

Nephrotic syndrome is still a therapeutic challenge because an effective treatment has not been developed. Evidence suggests that multidrug therapy is more effective than monotherapy in amelioration of renal injury. Therefore, we examined if taurine exerts a protective effect on doxorubicin-induced acute kidney injury in mice. Eight-week-old male Balb/c nude mice were used in this study. Taurine was orally administered at a dose of 50 mg/kg and 100 mg/kg body weight for 5 days. In the meantime, the mice were administered intraperitoneal injections of doxorubicin at 15 mg/kg body weight. At 24 h after the doxorubicin challenge, the response in the taurine-treated mice was compared with that in the vehicle-treated control mice. The doxorubicin-induced acute kidney injury model displayed a significant increase in the renal expression of apoptosis-related proteins (p53, phospho-p53, caspase 9, and caspase 3), whereas in the taurine-treated mice, the augmented expression of renal inflammation-related mRNAs such as NF-kB, COX-2, and iNOS was down-regulated. These results suggest that taurine acts as a renoprotective agent by inhibiting apoptosis and inflammation in the kidney of mice with doxorubicin-induced renal injury.

Anti-inflammatory effects of enzymatic hydrolysates of velvet antler in RAW 264.7 cells in vitro and zebrafish model.

Enzymatic hydrolysis has been successfully used for the extraction of numerous biologically active components from a wide variety of natural sources. In the present study, velvet antler was subjected to the extraction process using Alcalase protease. We analyzed bioactive components, such as uronic acid, sulfated-glycosaminoglycans (sulfated-GAGs), and sialic acid, present in the velvet antler Alcalase hydrolysate (VAAH) and assessed their anti-inflammatory effects in zebrafish as well as in vitro using cell lines. VAAH mainly contained uronic acid (78.22 mg/g) and sulfated-GAGs (50.47 mg/g), while the amount of sialic acid was negligible (5.55 mg/g). VAAH inhibited the production of nitric oxide (NO) by lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced cells in a dose-dependent manner and the inhibitory effect of VAAH on NO production was higher than that of hot water extracts. VAAH treatment also reduced the expression of inflammatory mediators such as nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2). Furthermore, we evaluated anti-inflammatory effects of VAAH using LPS-stimulated zebrafish. Treatment with LPS significantly increased cell death, NO, and reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels in zebrafish. Notably, VAAH significantly inhibited the extent of LPS-stimulated cell death and generation of NO and ROS in zebrafish. These results suggest that VAAH alleviated inflammation and cell death by inhibiting the generation of ROS induced by LPS treatment. Thus, VAAH could be used as a potential natural remedy with a strong anti-inflammatory effect. Taken together, we believe that based on our present results, enzymatic hydrolysis of velvet antler may be an effective process to make antler products acceptable as elements of health foods and nutraceutical components with increased biological activity.

Antioxidant activity and protective effect of extract of Celosia cristata L. flower on tert-butyl hydroperoxide-induced oxidative hepatotoxicity.

This study was undertaken to evaluate the antioxidant potential and protective effects of Celosia cristata L. (Family: Amaranthaceae) flower (CCF) extracts on tert-butyl-hydroperoxide (t-BHP)-induced oxidative damage in the hepatocytes of Chang cells and rat livers. In vitro, CCF extracts exhibited protective effect through their radical scavenging ability to enhance cell viability, prevent reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation, and inhibit mitochondrial membrane depolarisation in t-BHP-induced hepatotoxicity in Chang cells. In vivo, oral feeding of CCF (100mg and 500mg/kg of body weight) to rats for five consecutive days before a single dose of t-BHP (2mmol/kg, i.p.) showed a significant (p<0.05) protective effect by lowering serum levels of glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase (GOT) and glutamate pyruvate transaminase (GPT). The extract decreased the hepatic levels of lipid peroxidation (MDA) and serum level of triglyceride (TG) against t-BHP-induced oxidative stress. These results indicate that CCF extract prevented oxidative stress-induced liver injury by enhancing hepatocyte antioxidant abilities.

6,6'-bieckol isolated from Ecklonia cava protects oxidative stress through inhibiting expression of ROS and proinflammatory enzymes in high-glucose-induced human umbilical vein endothelial cells.

Hyperglycemia-induced oxidative stress accelerates endothelial cell dysfunctions, which cause various complications of diabetes. The protective effects of 6,6'-bieckol (BEK), one of phlorotannin compound purified from Ecklonia cava against high-glucose-induced oxidative stress was investigated using human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs), which is susceptible to oxidative stress. High glucose (30 mM) treatment induced HUVECs' cell death, but BEK, at concentration 10 or 50 µg/ml, significantly inhibited the high-glucose-induced cytotoxicity. Furthermore, treatment with BEK dose-dependently decreased thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation, and nitric oxide level increased by high glucose. In addition, high glucose levels induced the overexpressions of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), and nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) proteins in HUVECs, but BEK treatment reduced the overexpressions of these proteins. These findings indicate that BEK is a potential therapeutic agent that will prevent diabetic endothelial dysfunction and related complications.

Purification of a novel peptide derived from Mytilus coruscus and in vitro/in vivo evaluation of its bioactive properties.

Excess oxidant can promote inflammatory responses. Moreover, chronic inflammation accompanied by oxidative stress is connected various steps involved in many diseases. From the aspect, we investigated an antioxidant peptide to prevent inflammatory response against oxidant overexpression. To prepare the peptide, eight proteases were employed for enzymatic hydrolysis, and the antioxidant properties of the hydrolysates were investigated using free radical scavenging activity by electron spin resonance (ESR) spectrometry. Papain hydrolysates, which showed clearly superior free radical scavenging activity, were further purified using consecutive chromatographic methods. Finally, a novel antioxidant peptide was obtained, and the sequence was identified as Ser-Leu-Pro-Ile-Gly-Leu-Met-Ile-Ala-Met at N-terminal. Oral administration of the peptide to mice effectively inhibited malondialdehyde (MDA) levels in a thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) assay, and we also confirmed the antioxidative enzyme activities in superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione-s-transferase (GST) assays. This is the first report of an antioxidant peptide derived from the hydrolysate of Mytilus coruscus, and also these results suggest that the peptide possesses potent antioxidant activity, and potential to enhance anti-inflammatory response.

Chitooligosaccharides induce apoptosis in human myeloid leukemia HL-60 cells.

In this study we propose a novel anticancer agent using hetero-chitooligosaccharide (hetero-COS). To examine the possibility of the hetero-COS as a anticancer agent, we prepared nine kinds of hetero-COS with relatively higher molecular weights (90, 75 and 50-COS I, 5-10kDa), medium molecular weights (90, 75 and 50-COS II, 1-5kDa), and lower molecular weights (90, 75 and 50-III, below 1kDa), and their anticancer properties were investigated on HL-60 cells using flow cytometry and morphological analysis. The results obtained indicate that 90-COS III, which is relatively higher degree of deacetylation and lower molecular weights, showed the highest anticancer activity, and the data showed the anticancer property of the hetero-COSs depended on their degree of deacetylation values and molecular weight.

Antioxidant activity and protective effect of anthocyanin oligomers on H2O2-triggered G2/M arrest in retinal cells.

In this study, the free-radical-scavenging properties of anthocyanin oligomers for 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical, alkyl radical, and hydroxyl radical were evaluated using electron spin resonance (ESR) spectroscopy. The DPPH radical, alkyl radical, and hydroxyl radical scavenging activity of anthocyanin oligomers increased in a dose-dependent manner, with the 50% inhibitory concentration (IC50) value of 13.0, 14.0, and 448.0 µg/mL, respectively. The inhibitory effect of anthocyanin oligomers on lipid peroxidation was examined with ferric thiocyanate (FTC) and thiobarbituric acid (TBA). The inhibitory activity of anthocyanin oligomers was found to be comparable to that of vitamin E. In addition, anthocyanin oligomers enhanced the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD, EC 1.15.1.1), catalase (CAT, EC 1.11.1.6), glutathione peroxidase (GPx, EC 1.11.1.9), and glutathione-S-transferase (GST, EC 2.5.1.18) in ARPE-19 cells. In addition, anthocyanin oligomers inhibited the H2O2-induced G2/M phase arrest in ARPE-19 cells. Taken together, the present results demonstrate that anthocyanin oligomers have high antioxidative activity.