• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.37 no.6
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• pp.364-373
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• 2003

Purpose: For good quality of myocardial perfusion images, an approximately 30 min to 1 hour of waiting time after radiopharmaceutical injection and ingestion of fatty meal are asked of the patients. The aim of this study was to investigate the shortening of waiting time after radiopharmaceutical injection and improvement of image quality using natural plant extracts that promote bile excretion. Materials and Methods: Ten volunteers participated in protocol 1 (7 men, 3 women; mean age, $24.1{\pm}2.4$ years) and protocol 2 (8 men, 2 women; mean age, $26.1{\pm}2.9$ years), respectively. For the modified method of both protocols, subjects took natural plant extracts 15 minutes before the first injection of $^{99m}Tc$ MIBI without laking fatty meals. Control (Conventional) methods were peformed with intake of a fatty meal 20 to 30 minutes after $^{99m}Tc$ MIBI injection. Results: As the results of protocol 1 and 2, the ratio of myocardial to lung ratio were not different between modified and conventional method. Liver to lung ratio of modified method showed significantly lower value than that of conventional method. In modified method, myocardial to liver ratio was higher persistently. In protocol 2, natural plant extracts took before the first injection of $^{99m}Tc$ MIBI exerted accelerating effect of excretion of bile juice into Intestine until the end of examination. Conclusion: These results represent that natural plant extracts for facilitation of bile excretion before injection of $^{99m}Tc$ MIBI may provide better quality of myocardial perfusion images without the need for preparations such as ingestion of fatty meal within the 2 hours compared with conventional method.

• The Journal of the Convergence on Culture Technology
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.567-572
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• 2020

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of Anti-Thrombotic Activities and Cardiovascular Improvement of Fermented Garlic Extracts. The incidence of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) is increasing rapidly in developed countries, with CVDs now representing the leading cause of morbidity and mortality. Natural products and ethnomedicines have been shown to reduce the risk of CVDs. Garlic is a medicinal plant used throughout the world for its anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and antiplatelet activities. We hypothesized that fermented preparations of these products may possess stronger antiplatelet effects than the non-fermented forms owing to the increased bioavailability of the bioactive compounds produced during fermentation. Therefore, we compared these compounds via in vitro and ex vivo platelet aggregation assays by using standard light transmission aggregometry and ex vivo granule secretions from rat platelets. We found that fermented preparations exerted more potent and significant inhibition of platelet aggregation both in vitro and ex vivo. Likewise, ATP release from dense granules of platelets was also significantly inhibited in fermented preparation-treated rat platelets compared to that in non-fermented preparation-treated ones. We concluded that fermented preparations exerted more potent effects on platelet function both in vitro and ex vivo, possibly as a result of the increased bioavailability of active compounds produced during fermentation. We therefore suggest that fermented products may be potent therapeutics against platelet-related CVDs and can be used as antiplatelet and antithrombotic agents.

• Korean Journal of Medicinal Crop Science
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.191-202
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• 2004

82 species of Korean medicinal plants were measured to their SOD (superoxide dismutase) activity, total phenol and individual phenol compounds. The SOD activity of medicinal plants was varied from 3.67% to 48.3%, and especially, 4 species including Polygala tenuifolia Willd. showed activity over 40% higher than other species. The 16 individual phenol compounds concentrations have a severe variation in medicinal plants. Codonopsis lanceolata is the highest concentration $(12,176\;{\mu}g/g)$, and 10 species including Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch were showed to concentrations more than $1,000\;{\mu}g/g$. And also, salicylic acid was generally found in many plants, but trans-cinnamic acid, naringenin and kampferol was little found in plants. The total phenol by Folin-Dennis methods showed a respectively variation $(3{\sim}249.731\;{\mu}g/g)$ in 82 medicinal plants, and 7 species including Astragalus membranaceus showed low total phenol concentrations less than $10\;{\mu}g/g$. In conclusion, we expect that selecting medicinal plants with high biological activity might develop to chemicals related to antioxidants, as well as these become most popular substance at many industrial materials, and suggest to more researchs in future.

• The Korean Journal of Pesticide Science
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.435-439
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• 2013

Bacillus amyloliquefaciens M27 was selected as a control agent for the biological control of cucumber powdery mildew. The new mixture of B.amyloliquefaciens M27 and plant (Eucalytus) extract was developed to improve the control activity of B.amyloliquefaciens M27 against cucumber powdery mildew. The mixed formulation showed the high preventive and curative control effect against cucumber powdery mildew when it was diluted at 500 times and foliar-sprayed. Its control effect was higher in preventive spraying than curative spraying. When 500-fold diluted solution of the formulation was sprayed preventively four times at five-day intervals, three times at seven-day intervals and twice at ten-day intervals, the diseased leaf area was shown to be 4.4%, 8.0%, 27.9%, respectively; Whereas the diseased leaf area in the control plot was 45.4%. When the 500-fold diluted formulation was sprayed curatively four times at five-day intervals, three times at seven-day intervals and twice at ten-day intervals after occurred cucumber powdery mildew, the diseases leaf area was 11.5%, 25.2%, 51.8%, respectively; whereas in the control plot, the diseases leaf area was 64.3%. When the 500-fold diluted formulation was treated four times at five-day intervals in the plastic house, its control effect was higher than that treated three times at seven-day intervals and twice at ten-day intervals. As the results, the mixed formulation of B.amyloliquefaciens M27 and plant extract could be a promising candidate of bio-fungicides for the environment-friendly control of powdery mildew of cucumber.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.24 no.9
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• pp.935-945
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• 2014

Persimmon leaves were commonly consumed as beverages, but were also used as popular folk medicine in Asia. The purpose of this work was to assess the biological activities of Diospyros Lotus L. extracts (DLLE). Various solvent extracts, including n-Hexnae, $CHCl_3$, EtOAc, and n-BuOH fractions, were obtained from the methanol extract of Diospyros Lotus L. leaves. The increasing interest in the powerful biological activity of plant phenolics and flavonoids outlined the necessity for determining their content in medicinal herbs. In this study, the total polyphenol and flavonoid contents (TPC and TFC) in the EA fraction were higher than those of other fractions. The biological activities of DLLE were tested using the 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), 2,2'-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) diammonium salt (ABTS) radical scavenging activity assay, as well as superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity as an anti-oxidant effect and ${\alpha}$-glucosidase inhibitory activity as an anti-diabetic effect. The EA fraction with high TPC and TFC values showed the highest anti-oxidant effect and high ${\alpha}$-glucosidase inhibition. The EA fractions were further purified into eight fractions using open column chromatography. Higher anti-oxidant and anti-${\alpha}$-glucosidase activity were observed in polar fractions. The content of the flavonoids, including quercein-3-O-rutinoside, kaempferol-3-O-glucoside, myricetin, luteolin, and kaempferol, were analyzed in effective fractions using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The results suggest that DLLE have anti-oxidative and anti-diabetic effects and thus, have the potential as anti-diabetic materials and as a source for natural health products.

• Journal of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists of Korea
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.287-301
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• 2008

In order to develop a new depigmenting agent, extracts were obtained from 60 native plants and their antimelanogenic activities were screened by evaluating the inhibitory effect on tyrosinase which is a major enzyme responsibles for the melanin synthesis. The extracts of Trichosanthes kirilowii fruits, Phyllostachys bambusoides inner films (BIF), Clerodendrum trichotomum leaves, and Acer okamotoanum leaves showed relatively high inhibitory effect on tyrosinase and their $IC_{50}$ values were $50{\sim}100{\mu}g/mL$. The extract of BIF inhibited melanin synthesis of B16F10 melanoma cells by 52%, which was the highest among those of various extracts. Furthermore, the effect of BIF extract is 10% higher than that of arbutin (42%), a popular depigmenting agent in Korea. Ten compounds having antimelanogenic activity were isolated from the BIF extract by solvent extraction and chromatography. These compounds were identified as phenolic derivatives: SM701, SM702, SM703, and BPR211 were hydroquinone derivatives; SM707 a gallic acid derivative; SM704, SM705, SM706, SM708 and SM709 ferulic acid derivatives. The free radical scavenging activities of these compounds were measured and compared to those of hydroquinone and vitamin C. The $SC_{50}$ values scavenging 50% DPPH of SM702 and SM709 were $60{\sim}70{\mu}M$ similar to that of hydroquinone and those of SM701 and SM708 were $30{\sim}40{\mu}M$ slightly lower than that of vitamin C. These results suggest the presence of components having high antioxidant activity in the BIF extract. The SM709, identified as 1,2-O-diferulylglycerol, inhibited the activities of tyrosine hydroxylase and dopa oxidase by 18 and 60%, respectively. The SM709 also inhibited the melanin synthesis of B16F10 melanoma cells by 62% and this was the highest antimelanogenic activity among those obtained from the various purified compounds. Therefore, antimelanogenic activity of the BIF extract was concluded to be due to both inhibition of DOPA oxidase and antioxidant activity.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.31-41
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• 2011

To optimize the natural chemical agents against nuisance phytoplankton, we examined algal removal activity (ABA) of Plant-Mineral Composite (PMC), which already developed by our teams (Kim et al., 2010), on various conditions. The PMC are consisted of extracted-mixtures with indigenous plants (Camellia sinensis, Quercusacutissima and Castanea crenata) and minerals (Loess, Quartz porphyry, and natural zeolite), and characterized by coagulation and floating of low-density suspended solids. A simple extraction process was adopted, such as drying and grinding of raw material, water-extraction by high temperature-sonication and filtering. All tests were performed in 3 L plastic chambers varying conditions; six different concentrations ($0{\sim}1.0\;mL\;L^{-1}$), six light intensities ($8{\sim}1,400\;{\mu}mol\;m^{-2}s^{-1}$), three temperatures ($10{\sim}30^{\circ}C$), four pHs (7~10), five water depths (10~50 cm), and three different waters dominated by cyanobacteria, diatom, and green algae, respectively. Results indicate that the highest ABA of PMC was seen at $0.05\;mL\;L^{-1}$ in treatment concentrations, where showed a reduction of more than 80% of control phytoplankton biomass, while $1,400\;{\mu}mol\;m^{-2}s^{-1}$ in light intensity (>90%), $20{\sim}30^{\circ}C$ temperature (>60%), 7~9 in pH (>90%), below 50 cm in water depth (>90%), and cyanobacterial dominating waters (>80%), respectively. Over the test, ABA of PMC were more obvious on the algal biomass (chlorophyll-${\alpha}$) than suspended solids, suggesting a selectivity of PMC to particle size or natures. These results suggest that PMC agents can play an important role as natural agents to remove the nuisant algal aggregates or seston of eutrophic lake, where occur cyanobacterial bloom in a shallow shore of lake during warm season.

• The Korean Journal of Pesticide Science
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.267-272
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• 2012

Vitex trifolia L. is a full grown fruit of Vitex rotundifolia L. (Verbenaceae). It has been used for treating headache, dizziness, toothache and removal of fever as a traditional medicine in Korea. V. trifolia (500 g) were extracted three times with 80% aqueous MeOH at room temperature. The MeOH extract (38 g) was successively partitioned with n-hexane, EtOAc, n-BuOH and $H_2O$. Both n-hexane and EtOAc fractions showed more than 80% antifungal activity in vivo against several plant pathogens at 2000 ppm. Successive repeated silica gel, Sephadex LH-20, preparative TLC, and preparative HPLC of these fractions led to isolation of three compounds. Using mainly mass spectroscopy and nuclear magnatic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, their chemical structures were determined as agnuside(1), chrysosplenol B(2), and artemetin(3). Compound 2 was isolated for the first time from V. trifolia. Study on in vitro and in vivo antifungal activities of the isolated compounds is in progress.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.28 no.8
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• pp.938-944
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• 2018

This study evaluated tyrosinase, elastase inhibitory, and antioxidant activities of fermented Rhododendron micranthum Turcz. extract using a lactic acid bacterium, Lactobacillus rhamnosus. The optimum conditions for fermentation of R. micranthum Turcz. extract were $37^{\circ}C$ and 3% R. micranthum Turcz. extract for 3 days based on the bacterial cell number, total phenolic compounds, DPPH radical scavenging activity, and tyrosinase and elastase inhibitory activity. After culture for 3 days using 3% R. micranthum Turcz. extract, the cell mass of L. rhamnosus reached $5.7{\times}10^9CFU/ml$. The results indicated that R. micranthum Turcz. extract can be used for industrial lactic acid bacteria culture. After fermentation under optimum conditions, the total content of phenolic compounds of the fermented R. micranthum Turcz. extract was 157 GAE mg/ml, and the $IC_{50s}$ of DPPH radical scavenging activity, ABTS radical scavenging activity, and tyrosinase and elastase inhibitory effects were 78.8, 79.8, 329.1, and $449.5{\mu}g/ml$, respectively. The fermented R. micranthum Turcz. extract exhibited 1.2-, 1.3-, 1.5-, 2.4-, and 5.6-fold higher total content of phenolic compounds, DPPH radical scavenging activity, ABTS radical scavenging activity, and tyrosinase and elastase inhibitory effects than the nonfermented R. micranthum Turcz. extract. These results indicated that fermented R. micranthum Turcz. extract using L. rhamnosus can be used for developing new natural functional ingredients for the health food or cosmetic industry.

• Journal of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists of Korea
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.151-158
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• 2009

We found that silymarin exhibited the inhibitory effect on melanogenesis in a spontaneously immortalized mouse melanocyte cell line, Mel-Ab. Silymarin is a standardized extract obtained from the dried seeds of milk thistle (Silybum marianum Gaertn.). Silymarin significantly prevented melanin production in a dose-dependent manner with an $IC_{50}$ value of 28.2 ${\mu}g/mL$ without effects on cell viability. Also, silymarin inhibited tyrosinase activity in melanocyte, while it did not affect the catalytic activity of cell-free tyrosinase. Furthermore, Western blot analysis indicated that silymarin decreased the expression of tyrosinase protein. Silybin A/B and isosilybin A/B were also able to inhibit melanin production and tyrosinase expression in protein level. Double blind study on the clinical efficacy of a cream containing 2 % silymarin showed that silymarin have a significant skin whitening effect. Therefore, this study suggests that silymarin may be useful as a natural skin whitening agent.