There have been very few cases of occupational allergies caused by herb materials. In this paper, we report a case of occupational asthma and rhinitis caused by two herb materials, Dioscorea batatas and Pinellia ternata, which are known as Sanyak and Banha respectively. The patient had strong positive responses to grass pollens and cat fur, as well as to Sanyak and Banha extracts on skin-prick tests. Bronchoprovocation tests showed a dual asthmatic response to Sanyak whereas only an early asthmatic response to Banha. Serum specific IgE and IgG4 antibodies to Sanyak were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) but there was no specific IgE antibody binding to Banha. In order to further characterize the allergenic component of these extracts, sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and electroblotting studies were also performed. Three IgE binding components (29,000, 57,000, 63,000 Da) were detected within the Sanyak extracts, but no IgE-binding component was noted within the Banha extracts. It is suggested that Sanyak can induce IgE-mediated bronchoconstriction in an exposed worker. Further studies are needed to investigate the pathogenetic mechanism triggered by Banha.
We examined changes in the physiological responses of gray mullet Mugil cephalus exposed to acidic seawater (pH 6.0, 6.5, 7.0) and normal seawater (pH 8.0, control) for 15 days. As pH decreased, survival rate and body weight also decreased. Levels of aminotransferase, total protein and triglycerides also differed significantly with changes in pH, presumably due to stress caused by exposure to acidic water. The level of osmotic pressure was significantly higher in the pH 6.0 group than in other groups. Superoxide dismutase was significantly higher in the pH 6.5 and 7.0 groups than in the pH 8.0 group, and glutathione level was lowest in the pH 6.0 group. We conclude that decreasing the pH level of seawater induces a stress response in fish, damaging their ability to control their hematological and osmotic pressure. Antioxidant enzymes are generally sensitive to osmotic stress; in this study, antioxidant activity significantly changed with pH level. These results indicate that physiological stress induced by exposure to acidification reduces survival rates and inhibits growth in M. cephalus.
The pH of water is one of the main environmental factors exerting selective pressure on marine and freshwater organisms. Here, we focus on the influence of pH on an organism's ability to maintain homeostasis and investigate the effects of acidification on immunity-related genes and osmotic pressure during early development of the olive flounder, Paralichthys olivaceus. The aim of our study was to determine the influence of various pH levels on the fertilized eggs and larvae of P. olivaceus. Gametes of P. olivaceus were artificially introduced and the resulting fertilized eggs were incubated at pH 4.0 (low), 6.0, and 8.0 (equivalent to natural sea water; control). We found that all eggs sank from the water column at pH 4.0. After 38 h, these eggs showed slow development. Hatching occurred more slowly at pH 4.0 and 6.0 and did not occur at all at pH 4.0. Result of gene expression, caspase and galectin-1 were expressed from the blastula to pre-hatch stages, with the exception of the two-cell stage. HSP 70 was also steadily expressed at all pH levels over the five days. The osmolality of fertilized eggs differed marginally at each stage and across pH levels. So, this results demonstrates that low pH level is detrimental to P. olivaceus fertilized eggs.
The aim of this study was to evaluate a temperature-induced two-stage cultivation (TTC) strategy for the regulation of lipid and carbohydrate production by two microalgae, Chlorella vulgaris and Dunaliella salina, for biofuel production. The microalgae were grown under several temperature conditions (15, 25, 35, and 45°C) and optimal growth was observed at 25°C for both microalgae. To test the TTC, aseptically cultured microalgae were incubated under optimal conditions (25°C) for 20 days, and then divided into four aliquots that were incubated at 15, 25, 35, and 45°C for 5 days. Similar but somewhat decreased growth rates were observed at the non-optimal temperatures (15, 35, and 45°C). In addition, while total lipid accumulation increased in a temperature-dependent manner in both microalgae, total carbohydrate increased with temperature in C. vulgaris but decreased in D. salina. However, for lipid and carbohydrate production, while the highest lipid productions of C. vulgaris and D. salina were observed at 25°C and 35°C, respectively, the highest total carbohydrate productions of C. vulgaris and D. salina were obtained at 15°C and 25°C, respectively. These results suggest that the TTC strategy may be easily and efficiently applied to bioprocessing for biofuel production.
Because microalgae represent high growth rate than terrestrial plants, and it can accumulate significant lipid and carbohydrate content, and other bioactive compounds such as carotenoid and polyphenol in their body, it has been considered as one of the promising resources in bio-energy, and other industries. Although many studies has been performed about the microalgae-derived biochemical accumulation under various abiotic conditions such as different temperatures, salinities and light intensities, the studies about simultaneous effect of those parameters has rarely been performed. Therefore, this study focused on evaluation of simultaneous effect of different salinity (10, 30, 50 psu) and temperatures (20, 25, 30°C) on the changes of biomass, lipid, starch and photosynthetic pigment accumulation. As results, the highest growth rate was achieved at 30°C and 30 psu in the both algal cultures, and the photosynthetic pigment, chlorophyll a and total carotenoid content, were increased in a temperature-dependent manner. The accumulation of lipid and starch contents exhibited different aspects under different combina-†
This study investigated the physiological effects of a diet containing calcium oxide (CaO) on the olive flounder, Paralichthys olivaceus. The results indicate that the amount of calcium in the blood was higher in the calcium group compared with the controls. The aspartate amino transferase (AST) and alanine amino transferase (ALT) levels were lower in the calcium group, while lysozyme activity was higher in the calcium group. Histologically, fish in the calcium group had more hepatocytes in the liver and more intact scales. In addition, an attack experiment using Vibrio anguillarum (KCTC-2711) and Edwardsiella tarda (KCTC-3657) showed that the survival was higher in the calcium group compared with the controls. These results suggest that feeding fish CaO when they require it, such as during periods of gonadal maturation and rapid growth, will increase their immunity and resistance to pathogens.
We investigated physiological changes in the freshwater cichlid, fish Maylandia lombardoi in response to different calcium concentrations in rearing water. Four different calcium concentrations (0, 2, 4 and 8 mM) were prepared in rearing water by the addition of ionized calcium (CaO) to examine the effect of various calcium concentrations in rearing water on physiological changes in the cichlid fish, M. lombardoi. Total calcium concentrations in plasma and body increased in a calcium concentration-dependent manner and reached the maximum at 8-mM calcium concentration. Stress-related cortisol was significantly decreased in the 8-mM group compared to the control group (0 mM). Lysozyme activity also significantly decreased in the 8-mM group. These results suggest that CaO in rearing water increases calcium uptake in fish and affects the body by decreasing stress and improving immunity in fish.
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